Chelsea look set to remain without Kalidou Koulibaly for Tuesday’s Champions League meeting with Red Bull Salzburg.
The Senegal centre-back missed Saturday’s last-gasp Premier League draw with Manchester United at Stamford Bridge with what manager Graham Potter described as a knee issue suffered in the latter stages of a midweek west London derby stalemate against Brentford.
“He just felt his knee at the back end of the game against Brentford,” Potter said. “It’s not too bad, but it’s too soon for him to play in this game.”
Tuesday’s Group E trip to Austria looks to also be too soon for Koulibaly’s return, with the experienced defender having missed a final training session at Cobham before the squad fly out later on Monday.
Without Koulibaly and with fellow summer signing Wesley Fofana also currently missing with a knee issue, Potter called on wing-back Marc Cucurella to operate in a three-man defence against United, but hauled off the Spaniard before half-time in a tactical rejig.
Chelsea could well play a back four against Salzburg, with Cucurella and captain Cesar Azpilicueta at full-back, either side of fit centre-halves Trevoh Chalobah and Thiago Silva.
Potter remains without the services of Reece James and N’Golo Kante, who will both be sidelined for months.
James faces four weeks in a brace to ruin his World Cup dreams with England as they try to stabilise his knee before commencing rehab, while Kante will also miss the tournament in Qatar after undergoing surgery following a major setback in his recovery from the hamstring injury that had kept him out since mid-August.
The Frenchman - out of contract at Stamford Bridge next summer and yet to agree an extension - is not expected to be available again until February.
