Chelsea has confirmed defender Reece James is set to miss up to a month's worth of action following his latest injury setback.
The England international was withdrawn after 53 minutes at Stamford Bridge on his first Blues appearance following his earlier setback against AC Milan in the UEFA Champions League in September.
With what seems to be a reoccurrence of his knee injury that ruled the defender out of England's 2022 World Cup journey in Qatar, James is now set to spend at least the next four weeks on the treatment table across a busy return to domestic action for the club.
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Ben Chilwell, N'Golo Kante and Wesley Fofana have also been long-term absentees as of late for Graham Potter.
Confirming the news of the full-back's injury in a statement, it read: ''Defender Reece James underwent assessment earlier today after being substituted during the second half of last night’s 2-0 Premier League victory over AFC Bournemouth due to a knee injury.
''Scan results have regrettably confirmed a setback for the 23-year-old, with Reece now set to be ruled out for up to a month.''
Chelsea face Nottingham Forest on New Year's Day, before back-to-back clashes with Man City in the Premier League and the FA Cup. The Blues then take on Fulham, Crystal Palace and Liverpool to round out January's action.
James now looks likely to miss all six fixtures across December and the New Year, with the West London derby against Fulham on February 3 perhaps an early target for the player.
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