The knee injury sustained by Reece James in Chelsea's victory over AC Milan is worse than initially feared and the wing-back faces a race to be fit for the World Cup in Qatar, football.london understands.
James has been one of the standout players so far this season, starting 10 of the 11 games in the Premier League and Champions League, scoring two goals and assisting the same number.
Not only was James again demonstrating his growing influence for Chelsea, but there was a strong expectation he would play a key role for Gareth Southgate during England's upcoming World Cup campaign.
READ MORE: Chelsea and England suffer huge blow with Reece James injury worse than initially feared
That is now in jeopardy and James could miss all of Chelsea's nine games before club football breaks for the tournament in Qatar.
Among those games in a congested period, Chelsea face some stern tests against fellow top-four contenders in the league whilst they hope to secure qualification from their group in the Champions League, with two games left to play.
"He is due to see a specialist over the weekend," Graham Potter confirmed to reporters in Friday's press conference before Sunday's trip to Aston Villa. "Until we get that information, there's not too much I can add. We will wait and see. There is no point looking in the doomsday scenario yet."
Fixtures James could miss through injury:
Aston Villa (A) - Sunday, October 16
Brentford (A) - Wednesday, October 19
Manchester United (H) - Saturday, October 22
Red Bull Salzburg (A) - Tuesday, October 25 - UCL
Brighton (A) - Saturday, October 29
Dinamo Zagreb (H) , Wednesday, November 2 - UCL
Arsenal (H) - Saturday, November 5
Manchester City (A) - Wednesday, November 9 - Carabao Cup
Newcastle United (A) - Saturday, November 12
Chelsea are yet to confirm a timeline for James' recovery given he could require surgery on the knee issue. In other injury updates, Potter confirmed that both N'Golo Kante and Wesley Fofana are both unlikely to feature before the World Cup.
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