Reece James' injury is far from ideal for Chelsea and Graham Potter. football.london understands that James' knee problem picked up in the win over AC Milan on Tuesday is worse than first feared.
It makes the 22-year-old a doubt for the World Cup and he is due to see a specialist over the weekend. It's a huge blow for James, who has arguably been the Blues' best performer so far this season.
He managed to keep Rafael Leao quiet over both games against Milan, while he also scored and claimed an assist in the clash against the Serie A champions at Stamford Bridge. There is definitely an argument to be made that he is one of Chelsea's most important players - and therefore his absence will be felt.
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Cesar Azpilicueta could replace James, but he doesn't have the same attacking verve as the England international, while Ruben Loftus-Cheek is another option, although that would mean his presence in midfield would be missed. The good news for Chelsea is that their record last season without James was very impressive.
Last season, James missed a fair portion of the campaign through injury and Chelsea were forced to adapt without him. Overall, he missed the starting XI in 15 of Chelsea's 38 Premier League games - and the Blues picked up an average of 2.33 points per game across these matches.
Chelsea only lost two of the 15 league games he didn't start. One was a narrow defeat to Manchester City and the other was the Blues' embarrassing 4-1 loss against Brentford at Stamford Bridge.
While James is usually Chelsea's main creative threat, their attacking output didn't dry up in his absence. They averaged two goals per game in the matches he didn't start, just marginally down on the 2.14 goals they scored in games in which he was in the starting XI.
Defensively, in matches James didn't start, Chelsea conceded an average on 0.66 goals per game, while they conceded 0.95 goals per game in fixtures he did start. Of course, the sample size isn't as big for the games he didn't start in.
There is no doubt that James is a major loss for the Blues, but Potter can take some encouragement based on how the team performed without him last term. The Blues have shown previously that they can cope without their star wing-back.
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