James and Mount set to miss rest of season

Reece James and Mason Mount have been ruled out of Chelsea’s west London derby against Brentford and are expected to miss the remaining matches of the season.

The injury-plagued James has a hamstring problem and has not been able to train fully.

Mount, meanwhile. is set to undergo minor surgery on a pelvic injury which has troubled him for some time.

Mount has not started a match for the Blues for more than two months.

James has featured in just 16 of Chelsea’s 31 Premier League matches this season.

Interim boss Frank Lampard said: “Reece James is unavailable, probably for the season.

“Mason the same – potential for the last game of the season, but probably not.

“Reece has a hamstring injury he picked up in the Real Madrid game. We’ve scanned it in the following days.

“Mason has been carrying a pelvic injury for quite a while. Mason and the medical staff have been trying, but it has got to the stage now where it requires minor surgery.

“It will be a four-week recovery for Mason and we all know where that gets us to.”

Kai Havertz is also expected to miss the Brentford game but should return before the end of the campaign.

Brentford are 11th, a place above the Blues in the table, although Chelsea are favourites – as the odds available via sites like onlinecasinosnoop.com show.

Lampard praised Brentford for the way they have established themselves in the Premier League.

He said: “I’ve been impressed with everything. They’ve got stability, a really good coach, a consistency to stick with the coach through difficult moments, which you have when a team like Brentford are establishing themselves in the Premier League.

“They’ve come through those, always with a real clear idea of their recruitment and how they want to play. Huge credit to everybody involved.”