Lavia, Chilwell - Latest Chelsea injury news and return dates ahead of Preston FA Cup clash

Chelsea are set to face Preston North End in the FA Cup third round this weekend. The Blues are facing a number of injury concerns ahead of the tie as Mauricio Pochettino prepares to rotate his squad.

Romeo Lavia suffered another injury setbackand is under assessment by the club after picking up a thigh problem on his debut against Crystal Palace. Ben Chilwell is close to making a return to action after being sidelined with a hamstring injury earlier this season.

Trevoh Chalobah and Carney Chukwuemeka are amongst the other injury concerns facing Pochettino this week. With that being said, football.london has the latest from inside the treatment room at Stamford Bridge ahead of Saturday afternoon's clash…

When he joined the Blues back in August, Lavia was kept out of the matchday squads due to a match fitness problem before suffering an ankle issue in October. The Belgian international made his debut against Crystal Palace two weeks ago but picked up a knock in the process, and could miss out this weekend after being absent for the trip to Luton Town.

What Pochettino said: «We need to assess Mudryk and then Romeo Lavia also. He feels something, some issue. We need to check and hope it’s not [bad]. I'm a little bit worried. I don't know, because if you were watching the game [against Crystal Palace] you cannot appreciate I was changing the position with Lavia at the end because he was struggling to run. We will see what is going on.»

«I really believe in my players, it's only the circumstances, we need to recover the players that are injured. We have some setback with players like Romeo Lavia, who was involved last game but cannot be involved today.»

Possible return date: January 2024.

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