Chelsea have been dealt a blow as Thomas Tuchel confirmed the extent of N’Golo Kante’s injury.
The midfielder was taken off against Tottenham Hotspur during Chelsea’s 2-2 draw with their London rivals in the Premier League, suffering with a hamstring injury.
The extent of the injury is yet to be confirmed, but Chelsea head coach Tuchel has revealed that the midfielder will miss at least four weeks of the season.
This would see him absent for Chelsea’s matches against Leicester City, Southampton, West Ham United, Fulham, Liverpool and perhaps Crystal Palace.
This will no doubt be a blow, with a player that Tuchel previously described as key to Chelsea missing a large part of the season.
Speaking ahead of Chelsea’s clash against Leicester City, Tuchel confirmed Kante’s lengthy absence.
He said: “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.
“If your key player is out, it’s a situation you don’t like but have to deal with. It has huge influence.”
The German continued to discuss the impact of Kante’s absence, admitting that he is unlikely to change Chelsea’s system to suit the likes of Conor Gallagher, who is an option to replace the France international.
“It’s difficult to replace him, he’s very unique,” Tuchel continued.
“We were full of hope after pre-season because we built his pre-season very individual.
“He had a long pre-season, a good pre-season, felt good."
Speaking on Kante's role at Chelsea, Tuchel reiterated his key player status and revealed that his side will struggle without their midfielder.
"Since many years he felt very strong, getting enough rest and build-up to be the player he can be for us.
“We started with one game a week so the hopes were high that he can play consistently for us.
“If we build another system, I don’t know. We have trust in our players.
"It will maybe be the same system. We played many games, unfortunately, without him in the same structure. It will be slightly different because every player is a bit different.
“That is the challenge to adapt to this, use different players differently. To change completely because N’Golo is not there, I don’t think so.”
Chelsea face Brendan Rodgers’ Leicester on Saturday afternoon as they look to recover from the disappointing 3-0 loss at Elland Road last weekend, with Kante the only player unavailable for selection.
Topics: Chelsea, Thomas Tuchel, NGolo Kante, Football
Nick Emms