Denis Zakaria was brought off for Ruben Loftus-Cheek in the second-half of Chelsea's clash with Dinamo Zagreb. The 25-year-old midfielder had enjoyed a superb debut under the lights at Stamford Bridge which was unfortunately brought to a premature end.
He was seen to perch himself down on the floor after seemingly feeling discomfort in his right leg. Upon being hoisted up by the Blues' medical team, the Switzerland international clutched at the side of his upper thigh.
After walking around the pitch with little to no aid from the medical staff, Zakaria beelined towards the dressing room, hinting that a knock is the reason for his substitution. The Swiss' injury comes as a major blow for Graham Potter as Chelsea are hit with another injury ahead of the blockbuster bout with Arsenal on Sunday.
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The Blues are already without N'Golo Kante in midfield after the 31-year-old required surgery on a hamstring injury he suffered in September against Tottenham Hotspur. Mateo Kovacic, who was omitted from the Chelsea squad to face Dinamo Zagreb due to injury, remains a doubt for the Gunners clash.
So, having marked his debut with a goal, Zakaria gave Potter a good audition ahead of the weekend. Speaking to the press ahead of Chelsea's final Champions League group stage tie, the 47-year-old revealed that the on-loan star will be granted more minutes in the very near future.
"You can imagine every player wants to play and when they don’t they’re disappointed and they’re frustrated and it’s normal and you wouldn’t expect anything else," Potter said. "But I have to say he has conducted himself fantastically well in terms of with the group, supports his teammates really well, is always there but you can tell he wants to play so, yeah, have to understand that situation but he is fighting for the team, being really professional in training waiting for his opportunity and I’m sure it will come around soon.
"Well, we just spoke about Mason Mount, and there’s Conor Gallagher and Ruben and Jorgi in that area of the pitch. There’s quite a lot of competition so it’s not like he is doing anything bad. It’s just I’ve got to start somewhere in terms of selection and then the other guys have got to be patient and try hard off the side and be ready when the team needs them and that’s exactly what he is doing."
The severity of Zakaria's knock remains to be confirmed. Potter will be hoping that his midfielder will be available for Sunday.
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