Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel is looking forward to the return of both N'Golo Kante and Mateo Kovacic as he looks to navigate his way out of an injury crisis.
The Blues have been incredibly short of numbers in midfield for a while now. Kante has been out with a knee injury, while Kovacic contracted Covid-19 just a day after returning to training from his own injury.
Jorginho has been playing with a hip injury over the last through weeks, Ruben Loftus-Cheek missed the 3-3 draw with Zenit St Petersburg through injury and emergency backup Trevoh Chalobah has been out with a hamstring problem as well.
Fortunately, Kante is expected back in training on Tuesday, while Kovacic is towards the end of his isolation period and Chalobah is nearing a return to action as well, and Tuchel admitted he is desperate to get his squad back to full strength.
"It is absolutely crucial [to get the players back] because Jorgi is sacrificing in the middle of the pitch when you need two players to drive the ball and pick up good spaces in midfield," Tuchel said (via football.london).
"Kova had symptoms over the last few days. Not too bad is my information, but I don't know the answer to when he is allowed to come back. We need to know what the doctor says and ten days and some tests to be negative before he can come back."
Of the trio, it's Chalobah who is expected back soonest. The centre-back, who has been used in midfield when numbers are short, has avoided a nasty hamstring injury and hopes to return in time to face Everton on Thursday.
Kante may well make the Chelsea bench for that one if his return to training goes to plan, but it remains to be seen when Kovacic will be freed from isolation.
Source : 90min