Chelsea’s win over Bournemouth was marred by Reece James’ knee injury in the second half. The Chelsea right suffered under injury set back after recovery from an eight week of injury that ruled him out of just ended World Cup in Qatar.
Official Statement from Chelsea reads: “Scan results have regrettably confirmed a setback for the 23-year-old, with Reece now set to be ruled out for up to a month.”
Reece James is expected to spend four weeks on the sideline.
Chelsea’s performance against Bournemouth in the second half dropped following the injury of Reece James.
Asked why the injury to Reece James affected the performance of Chelsea, Graham Potter said: “It’s probably a little bit of everything. Reece was playing well and he’s a top player. As much as we think coaches are magicians, believe you me if you have top players it makes the coach’s job a lot easier. You can see the quality Reece brings down that right in the first half, especially, and to see him go off, it affects the stadium, the team, everything. That isn’t an excuse but we’re human beings and he is someone we care a lot about.
“There is going to be some concern and worry and I think that’s natural. Given the results we’ve had too, you want to try to hold on to your win and I think that affected our performance in the second half.”
On the importance of Reece James to the Chelsea team, Graham Potter added: “Reece is a world-class player. You see it from the outside but it’s not until you work with him how good he is. He is an incredible player, one who would fit into any team in the world. Any team would miss him.”
Chelsea midfielder Mason Mount revealed after the game that Chelsea wants to move back to the top four. Asked if he shared the same view with Mason Mount, He said: “Yes, but you always have to look at it in two ways. We haven’t been perfect ourselves and we can’t say we were playing well in the last two or three weeks, at least, of the Premier League campaign before the break. We didn’t perform well and we didn’t get the results we wanted. So you understand all the criticism that comes your way – and the pressure and expectation.
“Of course, you can have a different conversation in terms of the challenges we had, the injuries we’ve had, and the World Cup coming, but they are just reasons. We have to balance both and get a bit of perspective. You have to remember what this club has been through over a short period of time in terms of transition.
“It’s been very, very significant and you have to deal with that, try to stabilize, and try to improve the team. That’s where we’re at.”
