Chelsea FC have faced a fresh injury blow on international duty with Mateo Kovacic withdrawing from the Croatian national side with an inflammation on his Achilles tendon grip.
The midfielder has played with a renewed vigour under Frank Lampard this term and has started the past two league games in the injury absence of N’Golo Kante.
In the recent 2-2 draw against Sheffield United, Lampard stated that the midfielder had been substituted towards the end because he was blatantly tired, but it appears that he may have also suffered an injury.
Ahead of the Euro 2020 qualifiers, Croatia have confirmed that Kovacic has been permitted to return to the Bridge after finding a swelling on his Achilles during a medical assessment.
Kovacic has avoided an Achilles tendon damage which may keep him out for the long-term but he has nonetheless sustained a problem, which could sideline him for around two to four weeks.
The west London giants are short of options in the centre of the park and they have Jorginho as only senior fit midfielder available at the present point of time.
There remains the optimism that N’Golo Kante will return from an ankle sprain after the break but still, there is the lack of depth with Ruben Loftus-Cheek still on the sidelines.
Danny Drinkwater and Tiemoue Bakayoko have been offloaded on loan deals while Billy Gilmour remains fairly inexperienced with just one league appearance to his name.
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