Chelsea look set to assess Trevoh Chalobah’s injury on Sunday, with manager Enzo Maresca appearing initially optimistic over the defender.
Chalobah has been a regular Blues starter at centre-back since being recalled early from a productive season-long loan spell at London rivals Crystal Palace in January amid injuries to the likes of Wesley Fofana and Benoit Badiashile.
The 25-year-old - who was part of the so-called Chelsea ‘bomb squad’ exiled in the summer as the club looked to move several players on - started again in Saturday night’s 2-1 Premier League defeat at Aston Villa, but lasted just eight minutes before suffering an apparent back injury and needing to be replaced by Tosin Adarabioyo.
Asked for an update after the game, Maresca said that Chalobah had looked “good” but insisted it was still early as he is set to be further assessed on Sunday.
"We will see,” Maresca said. “It's early, we will see tomorrow. He was quite good now, but I don't know."
It was the latest in a long line of fitness setbacks for the Blues, who recently lost winger Noni Madueke until after the March international break with a hamstring problem suffered in the dismal 3-0 loss at Brighton.
There were no returnees from the crowded Chelsea treatment room for a Villa Park trip that saw them once again throw away a winning position following Enzo Fernandez’s early goal and miss the chance to rise back from sixth into the top four with a fourth defeat from their last five games, with Maresca confirming ahead of the match that he expected the bulk of his other absentees back in action along with Madueke after the international break.
Such a number includes Nicolas Jackson, Romeo Lavia, Fofana, Badiashile and Marc Guiu, though it remains to be seen when Mykhailo Mudryk will be available to return as he is still provisionally suspended.
Chelsea paid the price for yet another goalkeeping error against Villa, with Filip Jorgensen allowing Marco Asensio’s 89th-minute strike to slide underneath him to seal another frustrating loss after the Spaniard had earlier cancelled out Fernandez’s opener by netting from close range, both assists coming from fellow January arrival Marcus Rashford.
It was a particularly bitter pill to swallow for Chelsea given that Jorgensen has only recently become their starter between the posts due to a succession of costly high-profile mistakes from former No1 Robert Sanchez.
However, after what he labelled as the “toughest” defeat of his reign so far, Maresca refused to lay the blame at Jorgensen’s door and insisted the blunder would not decide who starts in goal for Tuesday night’s visit of rock-bottom Southampton to Stamford Bridge.
“I don't know [if Jorgensen will start against Southampton],” the Italian said. “In this moment, it is not today's mistake that I am going to change my mind about Filip in this moment. We will see.”
On the Chelsea goalkeeper situation in general, Maresca said: “The 'keeper position is a delicate one because the striker can miss the goal and sometimes it doesn't look so important but when a 'keeper makes a mistake, it's so clear and everyone can see that. This is a moment where we need to support each other, be strong and continue to work hard.
“I have a feeling in this moment that we need to win a game to go again. But now, the good thing in two or three days we have one more game at home and hopefully we can finally, with our fans in our stadium, try to get the three points and from there, start again and try to go again.”
