Latest Chelsea injury news as 12 miss Aston Villa with Fernandez worry and Moises Caicedo update

It is now almost easier to list those that Chelsea have available to them rather than the ones that are continuing injury concerns or even fresh ones. When it rains, as it did in vast quantities at the Vitality Stadium in Bournemouth, it pours.

Mauricio Pochettino had gone into the international break hoping to welcome back some of his sidelined stars shortly after the fortnight away from club football if not immediately. What happened was that the plague of fitness issues got considerably worse.

Before he has even kicked a ball in a match, new signing Romeo Lavia was ruled out for a number of weeks following an ankle problem picked up in training. He was gearing up to make a first appearance in the coming weeks after hardly having a pre-season.

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Instead,Lavia will join Christopher Nkunku in having to wait to make a debut for the club. The Frenchman is recovering from a long-term knee injury sustained in pre-season himself and is, according to the club's latest official update, «continuing to undergo his rehabilitation programme.» He won't be back until November at the earliest, December is a more likely return.

Pochettino had been ready to welcome captain Reece James into the side soon as well after he was sidelined for the opening period of the season. There is no current date set for the 23-year-old but the head coach did say ahead of this game: «He's recovering well. I don't know if he's close or not because we assess him every single day but he's started to do things on the pitch with the ball.

»He's really well. He's desperate to play for the team.