Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino has now given a gloomy update to the injury list ahead of the crucial match against Tottenham.
The club’s injury list was already mounting before their last game against Aston Villa. Pochettino was only able to name one first team player on the bench for the 2-2 draw.
The likes of Wesley Fofana, Reece James, Romeo Lavia and Christopher Nkunku have hardly been able to feature all season combined, with them almost certainly being key members in the strongest possible side at Stamford Bridge.
Nevertheless, the pressure is firmly on Pochettino to deliver results that will see them qualify for European football for next season.
He already will have probably known he was going to be without Thiago Silva for the key game tomorrow night after he was forced off against Villa, however he claimed in his pre-match press conference that he would be missing another player at the back too.
Axel Disasi injured
He said: “No good news because we cannot recover any players from the list but have added Thiago and Disasi, they will not be available for tomorrow.”
All eyes will now turn to who the manager feels is best set to take the place of Axel Disasi in the squad, meaning a huge opportunity could fall at the door of academy graduate Alfie Gilchrist.
Chance for Alfie Gilchrist to start
The youngster was given his first start for the club against fellow rivals Arsenal, and didn’t look out of place despite the thrashing the Blues recieved.
He is likely to be joined in a backline that has not played much football at all this season, with Trevoh Chalobah perhaps continuing at right-back where he put in a good display at Villa Park.
Benoit Badiashile silenced a few doubters with his performance too, and the change in role for Marc Cucurella in the second half was the spark for their fightback, and laid the blueprint for how they should approach any games from now.