Chelsea defender Thiago Silva is set to miss manager Graham Potter's make or break matches against Leeds United and Borussia Dortmund.
Silva, 38, suffered a knee injury 19 minutes into Chelsea's dismal 2-0 defeat away to London rivals Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday and was promptly substituted. It's now emerged that although the Brazilian centre-back's injury isn't serious, it'll rule him out of the Blues' crucial Champions League round-of-16 second leg at home to Dortmund next Tuesday, with Potter and co trailing 1-0.
That game comes after this Saturday's clash with Leeds at Stamford Bridge, a must-win fixture for the struggling Chelsea manager. Despite being backed with seven new signings during the January transfer window, co-owner Todd Boehly and the club hierarchy concede that Potter's run of one win in 11 since the turn of the year is below par, and they're preparing to wield the axe.
Those around the club, including players, believe that there'd be no way back if the Blues were to crash out of the Champions League, having also failed to beat Leeds, it's claimed. More than 40,000 signatures have been attributed to a petition calling for the former Brighton & Hove Albion boss' sacking, and losing Silva - who started Sunday donning the captain's armband in the absence of Cesar Azpilicueta - is a major blow.
A club statement issued on Tuesday morning read: "Having sustained a knee injury during the first half of Sunday's match against Tottenham Hotspur, Thiago underwent further assessment and a scan on his return to the training centre on Monday.
"Scan results from those assessments have confirmed damage to Thiago's knee ligaments and he will now work closely with the club's medical department during his rehabilitation to return to action as soon as possible."
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Following the limp weekend loss at Tottenham, Potter admitted that results in 2023 weren't acceptable and pleaded for more time, using the examples of Mikel Arteta at Arsenal and Jurgen Klopp with Liverpool in his argument. "There's always that question, absolutely," the 47-year-old replied after being posed with the prospect of being sacked. "And you can't stop the questions. And while the results are like they are, I accept them - it's part of the job.
"We were talking before the game about watching All or Nothing and Arsenal , two years into Mikel's reign he's close to getting the sack and people are wanting him out and it's a disaster. And now things have changed a little bit - and that's just the way it is. If you look at Jurgen's situation - they haven't got results and all of a sudden people want him out, that's just the nature of football.
"Obviously I haven't done enough at this club to have too much good faith, and I also accept that. My job is not to worry too much about that, to understand the question and where it comes from, totally, and to focus on keep helping the team and keep supporting the players because I really like these players. They're good lads and they want to win, but at the moment we're suffering - and that's my responsibility."
