Michael Ballack has criticised Chelsea for leaving him in the dark over the extent of his long-term ankle injury.
The German international picked up the injury in April, and underwent two operations to resolve the problem.
He finally made his return to first-team action in Wednesday evening’s Carling Cup game against Liverpool, replacing John Obi Mikel for the last half hour.
However, Ballack is annoyed that the club’s medical staff refused to confirm the extent of his injury until two weeks after he had undergone surgery on the ankle.
“Doctors can also make mistakes. But then you must not try and turn the facts, try to forget about your own mistakes and put the player into a bad light,” he said in The Sun.
“But in the end Chelsea made it clear – unfortunately two weeks late!
“At the beginning of my injury break I constantly had to deny rumours which were created by misleading comments from the doctors.
“I kept hearing that the ankle surgery had not been necessary at all. I had to justify myself, which was really hard for me.
“And on a club level I heard a few remarks made behind my back which were really disappointing for me.
“That was the worst thing in the first week after the surgery that it was reported: Ballack underwent surgery without reason and without permission. For two weeks I had to read this rubbish everywhere.
“Those claims are untrue and the development of the injury proves that. The necessity of the surgery has been confirmed.”
