Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel has named a strong line-up for today’s FA Cup match with Plymouth - but the manager will miss the game after testing positive for Covid-19.
The Blues are without Reece James after he was also ruled out of the Club World Cup in Abu Dhabi.
The wing-back was hoping to be in contention for the competition after more than a month out. But his expected return has been delayed after he caught flu during the Premier League’s winter break.
Thomas Tuchel confirmed on Friday: “He’s not at team training yet. I think after these two weeks, he needs some time in team training to get the rhythm back and the confidence back before we can think about letting him play.
“He will not travel with us to Abu Dhabi because he isn’t part of team training.”
While James’ continued absence is a blow for Chelsea, they have been boosted by the return to fitness of Andreas Christensen (back) and Trevoh Chalobah (knee).
But Tuchel is refusing to place a return date on James’ comeback.
He added: “I know that we have setbacks and I know it can be long sometimes. It depends. The injury was a big injury and I felt it straight away - the diagnosis was straight away that it was a big injury.
“From there you have to be patient. It is a hamstring injury. It is always a tricky one and he is a very physical player and he unfortunately caught the flu and this was a setback in the last week.
“He lost days in his process coming back into the team. It was a bit of a setback for him. But we are patient. We want to have him tomorrow on the pitch, but it is not happening at the moment and we have to be patient. I know that Reece works hard and he is in the best hands.”
Ruben Loftus-Cheek will miss Saturday’s FA Cup fourth-round tie with Plymouth due to a minor complaint, while Christian Pulisic and Thiago Silva have not trained after returning from international duty.
Tuchel believes his team will benefit from having an extended break after such a hectic schedule in December and January.
“We were the team that played the most matches and had the least break between matches,” he said. “And that cost us a lot of energy, and that was absolutely necessary for everybody.
“So it’s great to be back, it’s a busy month ahead and we’re looking forward. It’s very rare we have four training sessions to prepare a match.”
Tuchel himself will miss the match after testing positive for Covid-19.
Chelsea XI: Kepa; Azpilicueta, Rudiger, Christensen, Sarr; Mount, Kovacic, Jorginho; Ziyech, Lukaku, Hudson-Odoi.
Subs: Bettinelli, Sharman-Love, Alonso, Kenedy, Chalobah, Saul, Barkley, Havertz, Werner.
