Chelsea duo pick up injuries in Serbia game

Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic suffered a hamstring injury while playing for Serbia on Wednesday night and Nemanja Matic also picked up a knock.

Ivanovic went off after 65 minutes of the European Championship qualifier against Albania in Tirana, where his team won 2-0.

His club and international team-mate Matic was substituted eight minutes later, with the Blues midfielder appearing to also be struggling.

Both players have come in for criticism during Chelsea’s dismal start to the season.

Jose Mourinho has continued to stand by Ivanovic, 32, despite calls for Cesar Azpilicueta to replace him at right-back.

Matic, 27, was recently dropped to the bench by the Chelsea manager – and was taken off 28 minutes after coming on as a substitute during the recent home defeat against Southampton.