Liverpool hurt by Heskey and Henchoz injuries

Liverpool's Worthington Cup success has come at a price as the defender Stéphane Henchoz and striker Emile Heskey will be out of action for several weeks because of injury.

Heskey will be missing for two weeks with a hamstring strain picked up in Sunday's 2-0 win over Manchester United while Henchoz will be out for four to six weeks because the Swiss defender needs a minor operation on his left calf.

Both players will miss the first leg of Liverpool's Uefa Cup quarter-final against Celtic on 13 March. Henchoz also misses the second leg at Anfield a week later, and Heskey will struggle to be fit for the game.

The French defender Djimi Traoré is Henchoz's likely replacement while the Czech striker Milan Baros could step in for Heskey.

There was better news for Arsenal, whose England defender Ashley Cole is hoping to return ahead of schedule following his hernia operation.

Cole was ruled out for about six weeks after undergoing surgery last Thursday but he has already started his recuperation work at the club's London Colney training ground. He is now hoping to be back in first-team action in a further month's time, possibly in time for the trip to Aston Villa on 5 April which would be just in time for the Champions' League quarter-finals if Arsenal qualify.

The Gunners' manager, Arsène Wenger, has not ruled out an early comeback for Cole, although he will make sure that the defender does not take any risks. Wenger said last week: "I don't know many players who have played before six weeks. He could maybe make it back in five weeks but most players who start too early have a setback."

Either way, Cole will still miss England's Euro 2004 qualifiers against Liechtenstein and Turkey, with either Southampton's Wayne Bridge or Paul Konchesky of Charlton expected to replace him. Giovanni van Bronckhorst, who has previously played left-back for the Netherlands, will continue to deputise for Arsenal.

Tottenham Hotspur have agreed a deal to sign the pacy China midfielder Qu Bo for next season.

Terms have been agreed with both the player and his Chinese club, Qingdao Yizhong. Qu, 21, will join Tottenham for pre-season training in July. No financial details were disclosed.

Qu was a member of China's World Cup squad last year and has won 19 caps for his country, scoring three goals, and is the latest high-profile Chinese player to join a Premiership team. His international team-mate Li Tie, a midfielder, plays for Everton, while the defender Sun Jihai is a regular member of Manchester City's team.

Tottenham also signed the Japanese World Cup midfielder Kazuyuki Toda on a one-year loan deal in January, although he has yet to make his first-team debut.

Nico Vaesen, the Birmingham City goalkeeper, has been ruled out for up to eight months after scans showed he snapped a cruciate knee ligament in the Premiership win at Aston Villa on Monday.

The 33-year-old Belgian underwent an exploratory operation on Tuesday to assess the extent of the damage and his worst fears were confirmed yesterday.

"Nico has ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament," a City spokesman said. "It is going to be six to eight months before he is back in contention. He'll start rehabilitation next week to reduce the swelling and he'll have the operation in four weeks' time."

Vaesen had established himself in the City first team this season ahead of Ian Bennett, who will now take over.