Levi Colwill is a doubt to face Liverpool on Wednesday night, with the defender among a host of injury concerns for Chelsea.
The 20-year-old was forced to sit out the Blues’ FA Cup fourth-round draw against Aston Villa on Friday after suffering a hamstring complaint during the warmup.
Speaking after the game manager Mauricio Pochettino played down the severity of the issue, telling reporters: “We don’t believe it is so bad. It is a small issue and he felt uncomfortable. I hope he can train tomorrow or after tomorrow.”
According to the Evening Standard, Colwill was unable to train on Monday, with hopes of his return in time to face Liverpool pinned on his fitness to take part in Tuesday’s session.
Colwill — who remains a player Liverpool are interested in — is just one of a number of injury and availability problems faced by Chelsea ahead of the midweek Premier League clash at Anfield.
Malo Gusto, Christopher Nkunku and Trevoh Chalobah are back in training following their own issues, but whether any of the trio are risked from the start against Liverpool remains to be seen.
Meanwhile, Marc Cucurella, Wesley Fofana, Reece James, Romeo Lavia, Robert Sanchez and Lesley Ugochukwu are all confirmed out.
The other Chelsea first-teamer who definitely won’t be involved at Anfield on Wednesday is Nicolas Jackson, whose Senegal were knocked out of the Africa Cup of Nations at the last 16 stage on Monday night and the forward won’t return to his club in time to be considered.
Liverpool, meanwhile, face their own availability struggles for the game.
While key trio Trent Alexander-Arnold, Andy Robertson and Dominik Szoboszlai are all fit once again, Thiago Alcantara, Stefan Bajcetic and Thiago Alcantara remain long-term absentees.
Kostas Tsimikas and Mohamed Salah too are some way off a return. However, the latter is no longer in a race against time to be fit to return to the Africa Cup of Nations after Egypt were also knocked out in the last 16.
Wataru Endo is Jurgen Klopp’s other absentee, with the midfielder due to take on Bahrain with Japan in the last 16 of the Asian Cup on Wednesday.
However, Alexis Mac Allister is expected to be available despite missing the FA Cup win over Norwich on Sunday.
