Gun-toting Cole to face action

London - Chelsea will take "appropriate action" following a reported incident that claimed defender Ashley Cole accidentally shoot an intern with an air gun at the team's training ground.

The News of the World reported Sunday that the England international was playing around with a .22 air gun he had brought into the dressing room seven days ago and hadn't realised it was loaded.

The Sunday tabloid said sports sciences student Tom Cowan, who is on a one-year work placement at Chelsea, was hit in the side by a lead pellet at the training ground in the Surrey town of Cobham, south of London.

A Chelsea statement says "we have fully investigated the incident and we are taking appropriate action."