LONDON (AP):

John Terry's return from a racism ban ended prematurely in pain yesterday, as the Chelsea captain was carried off injured after scoring in a 1-1 draw with Liverpool in the Premier League.

The veteran defender headed in his 50th Chelsea goal from Juan Mata's corner in the 20th minute after missing the last four domestic matches for racially abusing an opponent.

But 15 minutes later, Terry fell awkwardly after a collision with Liverpool striker Luis Suarez, was carried off on a stretcher and later left the ground on crutches with a brace on his right knee.

"He's in pain now. He'll go to hospital tomorrow (today) for a scan," Chelsea manager Roberto Di Matteo said. "We hope it's not a serious injury, but we'll see.

"He started the game very well, showing the qualities he has, and the experience and influence. It's a real shame he had to come off."

Without Terry, Suarez was left unmarked in the penalty area to head in an equaliser in the 73rd minute.

Suarez served an eight-match ban for racially abusing an opponent, while Terry's delayed case meant his suspension for hurling an insult at Queens Park Rangers defender Anton Ferdinand has only just been served.

"Hugs to Terry," Suarez wrote later on Facebook. "I hope it's nothing serious."

"We were a wee bit tentative in the first half, and that was my fault," said Liverpool coach Brendan Rodgers. "We normally play with three front players to press the ball much higher up the field. We played 3-5-2 in the first half just to see if we could get Luis a bit of support up front and still have the superiority in midfield with three midfield players.

"With the two front players we just couldn't get our distances right. We just couldn't quite press."

Chelsea initially looked more dangerous after the break, with Mata shooting wide and then whipping in a free kick that Torres met with a header that was saved by Jones' knee.

Jones was also alert to push away another free kick from Mata before Chelsea was made to pay for its misses.

Jamie Carragher was able to cleverly head Gerrard's corner on to the far post where the unmarked Suarez nodded the ball into the net.

It could have been even worse for Chelsea had goalkeeper Petr Cech not kept out Jose Enrique's low shot in stoppage time.