Reece James will not be having surgery on his knee after suffering a damaging injury during Chelsea's 2-0 victory over AC Milan on Tuesday night.
The 22-year-old went down with a knock in the second half but played on before hobbling off, the initial thought was that this injury wasn't as bad as first thought but football.london revealed yesterday there was concern that he wouldn't be fit for the World Cup.
James remained in Milan on Wednesday during a day off for Chelsea's players and got an EasyJet flight home later that day despite the knock.
Graham Potter remained coy on the subject during his press conference ahead of the trip to Aston Villa which James will miss. He said: "He's due to see a specialist at the weekend so until we get that information there's not too much I can add unfortunately. The rest would just be speculation from my perspective so we'll wait and see.
"Let's wait and see. There is no point looking in the doomsday scenario yet."
Chelsea have now confirmed that James will not require surgery, which should reduce the time that he is out for, but still faces an unlikely battle to be ready for the winter World Cup in Qatar. The Premier League breaks up for tournament in Qatar on November 12th, England play their first match on November 21st, five weeks from now.
In a statement, Chelsea wrote: "Following the knee injury sustained in our away match against AC Milan, Reece has received treatment from the Chelsea medical department and visited a specialist this weekend.
"After consultation between all parties, Reece will now undergo a rehabilitation programme and is expected to be out for eight weeks."
The star full-back, who has become one of Chelsea's most valuable players, but without surgery there is a chance this could be reduced to six weeks. He is unlikely to play again for Chelsea before the tournament and will now await a decision from Gareth Southgate as to if he is part of the squad for the tournament.
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