The midfielder has not appeared for Chelsea since December when he tore a hamstring against APOEL in the Champions League and then hurt his knee on international duty at the African Nations Cup.

Having suffered some complications in his rehabilitation, the 27-year-old is now unlikely to figure again for the Blues this season.

“Michael Essien will not be in the squad for the weekend’s game against Stoke City at Stamford Bridge,” said a club spokesman.

“We were hoping that Michael recovered before the final game but it now looks unlikely that he will feature for us again this season.”

Essien had hoped to be back in action in time for Chelsea’s home Champions League leg against Inter Milan.

But his knee continued to swell-up and the player underwent four lots of surgery inside a fortnight. Chelsea have Stoke, Liverpool and Wigan to play in the league and Portsmouth in the FA Cup final at Wembley, but Essien is to miss them all.

Meanwhile, England midfielder Frank Lampard, who scored a late consolation goal, admitted the side’s slow start cost them three points against Tottenham.

Chelsea’s lead at the top of the Barclays summit was reduced to a single point after Tottenham’s 2-1 win at White Hart Lane and Manchester United’s late 1-0 success over City at Eastlands.

“The last thing you want to do when you go to White Hart Lane is give them a 1-0 lead at the start, especially in the derby,” conceded Lampard.

“When we went 1-0 down they got their confidence and when the game went to 2-0 it put us under a lot pressure and they are a good side.

“Then the game got messy in the second half and we went down to 10 men. But to be fair we had quite a lot of the ball in their box, we just couldn’t find that last little pass.

“It’s disappointing, especially with Manchester United’s result. When they scored in the last minute it was hard. If they had drawn the game it would have left us in a very healthy position but now it’s tighter.

“We were trying to get back into the game and with the goal we had a bit of a lift but it’s difficult with 10 men.

“But we have to get on with it now, understand it and not dwell on it because if we win our next three games we win the League.”

Chelsea will face Stoke on Sunday without captain John Terry who was sent off against Spurs.

But Lampard, who will take on the captaincy in Terry’s absence, was full of praise for his England colleague.

“He wants to win and he’s a fantastic captain,” said Lampard. “Although for the first yellow I thought he got a slight touch on the ball.

“But when he went into that second tackle, you knew the minute the tackle went in he was going to get sent off.

“When you’re playing in such circumstances sometimes these things happen but I don’t think the referee gave us much in the game.”