Enzo Maresca has provided an injury update on Reece James and Wesley Fofana ahead of the Blues' trip to Southampton.
Fofana was forced off in the 60th minute against Aston Villa, appearing to suffer an injury on his hamstring while James has been battling a similar injury since the international break.
The pair have struggled for fitness in the past years, with James starting the season on the sidelines while Fofana became a crucial player in Maresca's system, being deployed alongside Levi Colwill in central defence,
When asked for an immediate update on Fofana after the 3-0 win over Villa, Maresca said that it was 'bad news' and that his defender could be out for the rest of the year.
The Italian took a more cautious approach with captain James, asking the media to relieve pressure on the England international by asking less questions about him.
Speaking ahead of Chelsea's clash with Southampton on Wednesday, Maresca provided an injury update on both James and Fofana.
When asked about Fofana, he said: "We don't have any update at the moment. It happened two days ago so we need to wait a little bit. We are hoping to get some more news in the next days but for sure, he will be out for the next weeks, for sure."
Fofana limped off in Chelsea's win over Aston Villa.
Fofana limped off in Chelsea's win over Aston Villa. / IMAGO / PA Images
James is also expected to be sidelined for weeks, with Maresca having to field more questions about his captain despite asking members of the media to let him recover away from the spotlight.
"He's the same situation, more or less," he reiterated. "He's getting better but he still needs weeks to come back."
It remains to be seen as to whether the pair will return before the end of the year, with Maresca opting to deploy a different system when his side played Aston Villa.
Moises Caicedo shone in a new role as an inverted right-back, allowing Enzo Fernandez and Romeo Lavia to play together in midfield.
With Fofana sidelined, things could be complicated in Chelsea's defence as Maresca named three players who could be chosen to replace the France international.
"It depends a little bit on the game plan," he explained. "Benoit (Badiashile) is one of the solutions, but we also have Tosin, Axel (Disasi), we have different players that can play there.
"For sure, it's a big loss because Wes was doing fantastic in every game but we need to accept we have to find a different solution."