The England international sustained the injury in the second-half of our 4-0 victory over Juventus at the Bridge on November 23, and as such has been absent for the last five matches.

However, the Bavarian has confirmed that Chilwell is progressing well off the pitch as he steps up his recovery at our Cobham training base.

‘We are having a look at players and then being confident to get them or if it’s possible in winter,’ Tuchel said whilst he previewed tomorrow’s clash with Everton. ‘There’s a big gap in between these two situations and we know this. The best option would be that Ben [Chilwell] continues his positive evaluation.

‘He is in a good place mentally and physically. He did some running, and everything looks good. So, hopes are still up but we cannot confirm that.’

When pressed on what solutions he has in place if the injury is worse than first feared, the German believes now is not the time to think about that and instead wants to focus on his current options.

‘We cross the river when we are at the river,' added Thomas. 'First, we need to be sure what we do with Ben and watch the situation.

‘We’re still in there, and then we decide if we go for internal solutions and if we can overcome this period, everything depends on Ben Chilwell.

‘How long he is out and then on the alternative, if there is a chance to do something. We did not start this process because also to protect ourselves and to lose focus on the most important things. The most important things right now are Ben and Marcos [Alonso] and from there we go.’

The 12 Games of Christmas continues against Everton and Wolfsburg! Unwrap prizes like signed shirts, megastore vouchers, a Nintendo Switch and more by playing both Play Predictor games on Thursday.