BEN CHILWELL has been ruled out till December following a hamstring injury.
The left-back picked up the problem in the final moments of Chelsea’s League Cup win over Brighton last Wednesday.
And according to The Telegraph, Chilwell faces at least eight weeks on the sidelines to keep him out to Christmas.
But it is added the absence could be even longer depending on how the initial steps of his rehabilitation goes.
The 26-year-old was ruled out of England’s winter World Cup squad last year with a hamstring problem.
But he returned to playing in February and regained his place in Gareth Southgate’s squad.
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Chilwell started for England in the Euro 2024 qualifier against Ukraine last month but faces missing the rest of the Group C campaign.
The defender – Chelsea’s vice captain – has played in all bar one of the club’s Premier League matches.
His injury kept him out of a trip to Fulham last night, which the Blues won 2-0 thanks to first-half goals from Mykhailo Mudryk and Armando Broja.
And Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino revealed a worrying update on Chilwell before the West London derby.
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Pochettino said: “I think it’s bad news.
“From what the doctor told me it’s not a good thing, it looks like a bad injury, but we need to assess in the next few days and we’ll see the period that he’s going to be absent from the squad and the team. But it doesn’t look good.”
It adds to a growing number of first-team Chelsea stars who are currently on the sideline.
At the back, Benoit Badiashile, Trevoh Chalobah, Wesley Fofana and skipper Reece James are all out.
Summer signing Romeo Lavia and playmaker Carney Chukwuemeka are also fighting to regain full fitness.
And Christopher Nkunku is still not back in the fold to give Chelsea a much-needed boost going forward.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
