Chelsea duo Thibaut Courtois and Andreas Christensen face fitness tests ahead of Sunday’s derby against Tottenham, while David Luiz is expected to be unavailable for at least three more weeks.
Belgian keeper Courtois and Danish defender Christensen were sent back to London from international duty because of injury concerns.
Courtois has been nursing a hamstring problem, while the Denmark camp deemed Christensen not fit enough to play because of ‘muscle fatigue’.
Chelsea boss Antonio Conte will assess both players to see if they are fit enough for this weekend’s game.
“We have to check very well these couple of situations,” Conte said during a media conference on Thursday afternoon.
“For sure we have two big problems in Courtois and Christensen and we have to check the real possibility for them to play, and then to play well.
“The most important thing is to be available but at the same time to be in the right physical condition.
“We’ll see what is the real physical condition and if they are able to play again on Sunday against Tottenham.
“At the moment it is difficult for me to tell you with accuracy which is my choice for Sunday. We have to check these two situations.”
Luiz, who has been struggling with a knee problem and has made just two appearances since the turn of the year, will not be an option if Christensen if unable to play.
Neither will youngster Ethan Ampadu, whose season has been ended by injury.
Conte explained: “David Luiz is out I think at least for three weeks. He is recovering from a problem in his knee.
“The other solution is Gary Cahill to play in the middle. I trust in him. But we will try to recover Christensen. Ampadu is injured and is not available this season.”
This post was last modified on 29/03/2018