Thomas Tuchel has confirmed the Chelsea team news to face Leicester City in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon.
Chelsea have had several injury problems already this season, including Mateo Kovacic, N’Golo Kante and Armando Broja.
Kovacic and Broja returned to training at Cobham this week ahead of the Premier League clash against Leicester City, while Kante is still out with a hamstring problem sustained against Tottenham Hotspur earlier this month.
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Tuchel confirmed in his pre-match press conference that Kovacic is available to play 20 minutes or so on Saturday, but Kante is out for at least four weeks.
The Chelsea boss confirmed on Kante: “We are talking about four weeks plus. I told you at the end of last season he is our key player.
"He gives something to our team that no other player in the world can give to any other team. That makes him a key player.
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"If your key player is out, it’s a situation you don’t like but have to deal with. It has huge influence.”
Tuchel added: “He’s back in the group. N’Golo is the only one that did not train now this week so everybody is back in training.
"Kova is back in the group and ready to play some 20 minutes.”
On Kovacic, he continued: “We miss him as a personality, his experience and his quality. It’s maybe a 20 minutes at the moment.
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"Was his first training week without reaction in the knee so we cannot rush things otherwise we will just sabotage our own plans with him. We need him long term.
"It’s good to have him back and as an option on the bench.”
Meanwhile, the visitors will be without Wesley Fofana, who has been linked with a summer transfer to Chelsea, Brendan Rodgers has confirmed. James Maddison is also a huge doubt. Ryan Bertrand remains sidelined.
Rodgers said on Thursday: “We’ve got an issue around James Maddison but we’ll see how that is tomorrow (Friday). That would be the only doubt at the moment. He just felt a twinge when he was training yesterday (Wednesday).”
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He added on Fofana: “He won’t be available for the weekend. He has trained with our Under-21 squad.
“For me, it’s always about the commitment and when the players are ready to commit to the ethos of the team (they can return).
"It's been a challenge for Wesley. If you're not in the right frame of mind, we have to move on. The window will shut and then things will become clearer.”
Topics: Chelsea, Thomas Tuchel, Premier League, Leicester City
Matthew Debono