N’Golo Kante is “pretty much” certain to be out for the remainder of the season with a groin injury, Chelsea manager Frank Lampard has confirmed.
French World Cup winner Kante has already missed two large chunks of Chelsea’s below-par season due to a hamstring injury and then fitness struggles. He started in both of the Blues’ two most recent matches — the 3-1 defeat to Arsenal and then last Sunday’s win over Bournemouth by the same scoreline.
Now, though, Kante looks set to miss the rest of the season, after caretaker manager Lampard revealed the two-time Premier League winner picked up a groin injury in training ahead of this afternoon’s home match against Nottingham Forest.
“We lost N’Golo in training yesterday,” Lampard said. “He felt something in his groin. So he’s going to be a two or three-week injury.”
He added: “We know what that means, pretty much. So we just have to keep going.”
Chelsea’s midfield three against Forest, in Kante’s absence, sees Mateo Kovacic and Conor Gallagher play alongside record signing Enzo Fernandez.
Chelsea will almost certainly finish the season in the bottom half of the Premier League table, despite spending over £600million on transfers this term.
