Chelsea bounced back from their defeat to Brighton over the weekend with a win over Dinamo Zagreb in the Champions League to seal their top spot in Group E.
The result was marred by an injury to Chelsea left-back Ben Chilwell, who seems to have popped his hamstring and was taken off the field with the help of two Chelsea medical staff.
Ben Chilwell’s chance of going for the World Cup is now in doubt, with the extent of the injury unknown.
Chelsea already have a list of players who are nursing their injuries. Ben Chill well will join Recce James, N’Golo Kante, and Kepa Arrizabalaga on the sidelines.
Providing an update on the injury of Ben Chilwell, Graham Potter said: “Not great. Obviously, when he pulls up like that it’s a concern. Obviously, we need to scan it but it’s not positive at the moment.”
“I spoke to him briefly. He just felt something as he was setting off. He is disappointed and upset.”
Graham Potter also revealed his injury will be a big blow for Chelsea.
He added: “It’s a blow for us on an otherwise positive evening. To see him pull up like that, it’s not a great sight. So fingers crossed that when we get it scanned it isn’t too bad. It can be not as severe but we have to cross our fingers at the moment. But clearly, we’re disappointed.”
“Because he didn’t play at the weekend, there was a thought he could play tonight and have enough time to recover for the weekend. So we’ve tried to manage him, but he’s never played three games in a week. He’s had to have a build-up that I think has been good for him. That’s why it’s very frustrating. It’s a blow for us and a blow for him.
“Sadly, he won’t be the only one that is affected in this period because October was incredibly challenging in terms of the games we had to play. But it is what it is.”
Graham Potter also confirmed that Kepa Arrizabalaga will not be available for the Chelsea Premier League clash with Arsenal on Sunday.
The Spaniard felt some discomfort in his foot in Chelsea’s defeat to Brighton and replace after the break by Eduoard Mendy.
Asked about the availability of Kepa for the Arsenal game, Graham Potter said: “No he won’t be okay for Sunday.
“It’s only precautionary [to use crutches] to keep the weight off his foot.
“He’s progressing well but won’t be available for Sunday.”
Graham Potter took charge of his first Champions League game when he joined Chelsea.
On the difference between the Champions League and Europe League, Graham Potter said:
“The quality of the opponent I would say – and the quality of the team we have. We are Chelsea so the quality of players is incredibly high. At Ostersunds, we were the underdog in every game, so it was slightly different. But I would say it was the level of the team and opponent and individual player.”
