England right-back Reece James could miss the World Cup after Chelsea head coach Graham Potter confirmed he will see a specialist over the weekend.
The 22-year-old limped out of Tuesday’s Champions League win in Milan with a knee injury and now faces an anxious wait to gauge how bad the issue is.
Potter would not be drawn on how long James could be sidelined for but did offer an update.
“He is due to see a specialist over the weekend,” said Potter. “So until we get that information there is not too much I can add unfortunately, the rest would just be speculation from my perspective.
“We need to just check, there is discomfort so we need to see a specialist, that is all I know. He spoke yesterday, felt not too bad, but again until you get these things checked from specialists, then we can find the way forward.
“We will wait and see, there is no point looking into the doomsday scenario yet.”
In another injury issue for Chelsea, Potter revealed France midfielder N’Golo Kante has suffered a relapse in his recovery from a hamstring issue.
“He is due to a see a consultant at the weekend,” added Potter. “It is a setback, it is not good news but at this stage, again I can’t tell you anything more.
“Historically, these are things that have happened which are a concern, we need to get to the bottom of that. It is a setback in the last stage of his rehab so that is worrying.
“All we can do is get the right diagnosis, get the right consultation and then try and help him get back to full fitness.”