CHELSEA fans have been left distraught after Ben Chilwell was ruled out for a month with injury.
The defender was forced off the field in Wednesday’s 1-0 Carabao Cup win over Brighton.
Chelsea were unable to make a sub, having used all their replacements, and were forced to finish the game with ten men.
There were fears that Chilwell, 26, had hurt his hamstring following a late lunge.
And the Standard claim the England star has indeed tweaked the key muscle, with scans ruling him out of action for the next month.
It’s the latest in a long line of hamstring problems for Chilwell, who was crowned Chelsea vice-skipper by new boss Mauricio Pochettino.
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He missed 20 games last season with the same issue.
That’s after suffering a ruptured cruciate ligament in 2021, ruling him out for over six months.
However, it’s believed Chilwell’s latest hamstring injury is not as bad as first feared.
He will certainly miss the next two games against Fulham and Burnley.
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Chilwell is also highly unlikely to make the cut for next month’s internationals with England.
But that gives him time and space to potentially recover for the crunch home game against Arsenal on October 21.
And even if he misses the Gunners match, Chilwell could yet be involved in matches against Brentford and Blackburn at Halloween.
The ex-Leicester man has made six appearances for Chelsea this term, playing further up the pitch as a left winger with mixed results.
Blues fans were left devastated by the news about his injury though.
One said: “Just as he was starting to heat up.”
Another declared: “These injuries, honestly…”
One noted: “Thank god it’s not more than that.”
Another added: “There goes our vice captain.”
Chelsea have been plagued by injuries this season, with Christopher Nkunku, Wesley Fofana, Trevoh Chalobah and Romeo Lavia yet to make an appearance.
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Reece James, Benoit Badiashile and Carney Chukwuemeka are also sidelined.
While the likes of Armando Broja and Noni Madueke have barely featured after only just recovering from their respective setbacks.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
