The international round of fixtures began with both injury and defeat for Michael Essien.

The Chelsea midfielder was taken from the field with an injury midway through the first-half of Friday's World Cup qualifier in Libya. The remaining Ghana players went down to a single goal four minutes from time.

Second-place Ghana must now defeat Lesotho at home in their final match in October to have a chance of advancing to the second phase of the qualifiers for African nations.

Essien's injury will be assessed by Chelsea's medical team on his return to Cobham.

Chelsea defender Michael Mancienne was a contributor to England Under 21s' clean sheet and 2-0 win over Portugal at Wembley, a victory that puts the England side a big step closer to making the European Under-21 Championships.

The young national side are now in the play-offs for next summer's tournament in Sweden thanks to a victory in front of over 27,000 fans at Wembley. There is satisfaction in beating a nation traditionally strong at youth football level.

Mancienne, a 20-year-old Chelsea Academy productwho has benefitted from two years of first team football on-loan at QPR, played the whole match in central defence - but his position did not prevent him having one of England's first chances, heading a free-kick into the side-netting.

With only one defeat in the last three years, the Under 21s eventually triumphed thanks to goals from two names familiar to Barclays Premier League watchers, recently united Aston Villa pair James Milner, who scored from the penalty spot on the stroke of half-time, and Gabriel Agbonlahor with a 63rd minute strike.

Full-back Ryan Bertrand, on his first call-up to the Under 21 squad, didn't make the bench.

Chelsea reserve team winger Miroslav Stoch played the full game in Slovakia Under 21s' 1-1 draw at home to Belgium. With Austria already guaranteed top spot in the qualification group, access to the summer tournament has already escaped 18-year-old Stoch's team.

Tonight (Saturday) the senior England national side begin their qualification campaign to reach South Africa in two years' time without injured Rio Ferdinand but with all five Chelsea players expected to be fit for selection.

Captain John Terry has appealed for the England supporters to stay with the side for the away fixture against Andorra.

'Not qualifying for the Euros is still burning in a lot of the players,' he said. 'We all have another chance to change things.

'We've had a lot of preparation, different players, tactics and styles of play. It's now we're going to be judged.

'As players we understand and take the responsibility of the last two years of disappointments. We understand the fans' frustration,' the Chelsea man added.

'We need the fans' support, we realise they pay an awful lot of money for their tickets and travel - and it's about time we put on a performance and got the results for the fans and the whole nation.

'I know in my lifetime I have a very good opportunity to make England successful, along with the players around me and the manager. It's about the result for me.

'I'll take three points, whether it is 2-0 or 3-0. Maybe the fans don't want to hear that and hopefully it will be more than that. We are not going out there to win 1-0 or 2-0 that's for sure.

'It's all about three points and moving forward into the Croatia game.'