Graham Potter 's honeymoon period at Chelsea is well and truly over - and now the Blues boss is facing some home truths.
Following a promising start to life under the acclaimed English tactician, Chelsea have now lost three of their last four games and are ending the first part of the season in a slump. A tricky tip to St James' Park to face Newcastle United on Saturday comes before the Premier League campaign pauses for the World Cup, and Potter will be hoping to get back on track as soon as possible.
As for his players, there've been mixed fortunes when it comes to featuring at this month's tournament for England. Reece James was excluded by manager Gareth Southgate, despite insisting that he was recovering from injury ahead of schedule, while Conor Gallagher was handed a ticket to Qatar.
Here's a round-up of the latest news from Stamford Bridge.
Southgate explains James omission
Gareth Southgate has admitted that it may well've been "arrogant" to include Reece James in his World Cup squad when the Chelsea right-back wouldn't have been able to feature until the quarter-final stage. James, 22, suffered a serious knee injury a month ago but was confident that he'd return in time for the tournament.
However, Southgate opted not to take the Blues star and explained of his decision: "I don't think we can take a player who's not available for the group, that would be deemed arrogant in some circles. But also, if everything went well and he was available and he was ready and we were picking him, then we'd be dropping him into a quarter-final after eight weeks out. That would be really demanding. A tough call."
Gallagher gets the nod
In more pleasing news for the Stamford Bridge faithful, Conor Gallagher is heading to Qatar. Gareth Southgate has backed him to bolster his midfield, praising the Chelsea midfielder's mentality after not receiving a call-up in September and dropping down to England's under-21s.
"We were really pleased with how he responded at being out of our squad," Southgate told a press conference. "He went into the under-21s and performed really well. His mentality was excellent. It is a good example that if you approach it in that way that there's always a route back with us. He has managed to achieve that straight away."
Southgate's full 26-man squad.
Have your say! Did Gallagher deserve to get a call-up? Give us your verdict in the comments section.
Hard luck for Tammy
A staple of England squads for the past year, former Chelsea striker Tammy Abraham can count himself unlucky to miss out on Gareth Southgate's final cut. After a spectacular first season with Italian giants Roma last term, the 25-year-old marksman has only scored three goals in 14 league games this season, a weak return which proved fatal to his World Cup hopes.
"Tammy's had a poor run of scoring form at the wrong time, really," Southgate admitted. "It's not a case of that we are three or four weeks away from a finals and the start of the first match."
