Chelsea defender Reece James has been ruled out for the foreseeable future with yet another hamstring injury.
The club captain has been plagued by injury for a number of seasons, making just 30 Premier League outings since the start of 2022-23.
Another issue with the same area prevented the England international from featuring until October 20, yet he impressed before the November international break with four straight appearances.
James had been expected to start Saturday's encounter at Leicester City having had two weeks away from action after his substitute outing against Arsenal on November 10.
However, head coach Enzo Maresca revealed at a press conference on Thursday that James had suffered another hamstring issue in training on Tuesday.
© Imago
What did Maresca say on James?
Although Maresca sounded optimistic that the 24-year-old will not be sidelined in the long term, he acknowledged that no-one was prepared to take any risks on his fitness.
The Italian said: "We have just one injured player, that is Reece. Unfortunately he felt something small and we don't want to take any risks for the weekend. Hopefully it's not something long."
He added: "He felt something, he has to be out. For sure, this weekend and then we'll see. We don't know for how long.
"He has to try and avoid as much as he can but sometimes things happen even if you want to avoid that.
"Hopefully he can be available for the next one but he is not available for this one."
© Imago
Who will start at right-back?
Malo Gusto - who started ahead of James against Arsenal - has seemingly been declared fit by Maresca having gone into the international break carrying a knock to his ankle.
The expectation is that the Frenchman will feature at right-back, but Axel Disasi is an alternative if Maresca takes a different approach.
Former Leicester defender Wesley Fofana has also featured in that position this campaign and could be moved if Tosin Adarabioyo is brought into the middle.
However, Fofana went into the international break with an inflammation of his knee, seemingly making it unlikely that he would be deployed out on the flank.
Darren Plant
