Mateo Kovacic replaced Conor Gallagher in the first half of Chelsea vs Brentford due to a suspected injury. The ball was seen to canon into the 22-year-old midfielder's knee as his leg was planted in the turf.
Gallagher walked off freely after being replaced inside the opening half an hour. He seemed relatively unscathed, though it looks to be another problem added to Graham Potter's growing list.
The Cobham graduate is now one of three players at Stamford Bridge who are currently nursing knee injuries, with Wesley Fofana and Reece James out. The former hobbled off injured in the first half of Chelsea's Champions League group stage clash with AC Milan at the start of the month and is set to be out for a few weeks.
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James, on the other hand, is expected to be out for some time with his knock to the knee, potentially missing the World Cup in Qatar. He picked up an injury in the Blues' reverse fixture against AC Milan at the San Siro, and the early indications were that the injury wasn't serious.
However, the knock is not as worse as first thought, with Potter giving an update after the match. He said: "Conor felt ill like he was going to be sick. You could probably see that in the first 15 mins, he wasn't quite himself. Hopefully, it's just a 24-hour thing."
With regard to Chelsea's endeavours this season, Potter already has to cope with the absence of N'Golo Kante. The 31-year-old, who sees his deal at Stamford Bridge expire this summer, is yet to play under the newly-appointed boss after picking up a hamstring injury against Tottenham in August.
Kante will be out of action for an expected four months following surgery.
Summer signings Carney Chukwuemeka made a cameo appearance against Brentford and could move up the pecking order for the clash with Manchester United on Saturday. Cesare Casadei has started the season off well for the development squad and will now be hoping to be granted a few minutes in the Chelsea starting XI by Potter. And with Kante and Jorginho both set to leave at the end of the season, the Blues have been inadvertently handed a wildcard solution to the wave of injuries at Cobham training ground.
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