Graham Potter has revealed that Mateo Kovacic was substituted in Chelsea's win over Red Bull Salzburg due to a potential issue, leaving the Blues sweating over his fitness. The Croatian midfielder had lit up the pitch in Austria, backing up an impressive display with an exquisite goal to give Chelsea the lead in the opening half of the match.
It had already emerged over the weekend that Kovacic was still nursing a knee injury that started ahead of the season, while Potter's last two attempts to rest the 28-year-old were foiled as he entered the play within the first half against both Brentford and Manchester United. However, he was deemed fit enough to start against the Austrian champions on Tuesday and Ruben Loftus-Cheek was afforded a chance to start from the bench.
Kovacic lasted into the second period when Chelsea were 2-1 up before being replaced by Loftus-Cheek after 68 minutes of the game. Potter revealed the Croatian appeared to have a calf issue.
