Chelsea are confident an injury Alvaro Morata picked up against Manchester City will not prove to be serious.
The striker went off with what looked looked like a hamstring problem 10 minutes before half-time at Stamford Bridge, where the Blues were beaten 1-0.
Boss Antonio Conte indicated that Morata was taken off as a precaution after asking to be substituted to avoid suffering a serious injury.
Conte believes Morata is unlikely to be fit for international duty with Spain but is optimistic Chelsea’s medical staff will confirm the injury is not a cause for alarm.
“It’s a muscular problem. I don’t think it is a serious problem,” said Conte.
“He said to me: ‘I prefer to stop, otherwise I risk having a bad injury’.
“The doctor in the next few days has to check the situation. I don’t think he will be available for the national team.”
Conte praised his players for their effort despite the disappointing result – and said he decided to bring on Willian for Morata because he believed the Brazilian could exploit space in behind City’s defence.
This post was last modified on 30/09/2017