London (AFP) - Chelsea boss Graham Potter revealed Sunday that England defender Reece James will be in a knee brace for a month in a further blow to his World Cup hopes.
The Premier League club confirmed on Saturday that James was expected to be out for eight weeks after suffering a knee injury in last week's Champions League win at AC Milan.
It means he will not be fit until after the group stage of the tournament in Qatar, which starts next month, with his prospects of being included in Gareth Southgate's England squad fading.
"In terms of his involvement in the World Cup, I don't know, it will depend on how he recovers -- he's in a brace for four weeks so that slows everything down," Potter said after Sunday's 2-0 win at Aston Villa.
"He is going to be in a brace and that has implications over what he needs to do to get fit from there."
Potter said the 22-year-old would "give everything" to recover as quickly as possible.
"It wouldn't be my place to predict what will happen," he said."Our job is to help him in the short term now and get him back."
