Thomas Tuchel has confirmed that Trevoh Chalobah, Ben Chilwell, Mateo Kovacic and N'Golo Kante are unavailable for the visit of Leeds United in the Premier League, however central-midfield duo Jorginho and Ruben Loftus-Cheek are fit for selection.
The Blues return to Stamford Bridge tomorrow after three away fixtures in a row, with our German head coach updating on the injuries of the four confirmed absentees as well as providing more positive news on the centre-midfielders, where we were particularly light in the midweek draw with Zenit Saint Petersburg.
‘Trev is still out. Mateo Kovacic is out, N’Golo Kante out for tomorrow, and Ben Chilwell,' Tuchel confirmed.
Speaking on Jorginho, who missed out in midweek, the boss had some good news regarding his availability.
‘He did the last two training sessions and I think he will do what he did the last games, play through pain and do what he needs to be on the pitch,’ Tuchel said, smiling.
In the Italian’s absence Reece James played in the middle of the park alongside Ross Barkley in the 3-3 draw with Zenit, where he has played before in his academy days and during his loan spell with Wigan Athletic.
However, Tuchel confirmed in his pre-match press conference that James will revert back to his usual position for tomorrow’s match against Leeds United.
‘Reecey will start as a wing-back. We will find another consolation, he helped us out. We took the match to see some things because imagine if something happens tomorrow to Jorgi and we need to have a solution and we wanted to see it in real life.
‘We took the match in Zenit to check out Saul in a different position and Reecey for impact in the middle of the pitch. But there is no need tomorrow to try these things. He [James] will start as a wing-back.’
Tuchel also provided an update on the injury to midfielder N’Golo Kante, who was substituted in last month’s win over Juventus at Stamford Bridge after picking up an injury.
‘We are always worried when we have to live and play without N’Golo because he is exceptional and a unique player all over the world. This is my personal opinion. You cannot find a second N’Golo, so of course we’re worried.’
Speaking of the Frenchman, Tuchel believes he is close to a return to training. ‘Now is a slightly too long break again. We hope he comes back on Tuesday to team training.’