Enzo Maresca will have to find alternative options to partner Levi Colwill in defence following Wesley Fofana’s hamstring injury.
The 23-year-old was forced off after an hour during Chelsea’s 3-0 win over Aston Villa in the Premier League on Sunday afternoon.
Despite Fofana insisting it was ‘nothing serious’, Maresca confirmed Chelsea were likely to be without the France international for several weeks at an absolute minimum.
Chelsea have had a quick turnaround as they now prepare to face newly-promoted Southampton, who have won just one of their 13 league matches so far this term.
Russell Martin’s side will also be without several key players for Chelsea’s trip to the south coast in midweek. Taylor Harwood-Bellis, Flynn Downes and Tyler Dibling are all unavailable through suspension, Lesley Ugochukwu cannot play against his parent club and Aaron Ramsdale is recovering from injury.
Chelsea have injury issues of their own. Reece James is sidelined until next year following a hamstring injury setback in training last month, while Fofana is expected to miss a large part of the festive period at a minimum.
Wesley Fofana
Wesley Fofana limping off against Aston Villa on Sunday. / IMAGO / PA Images
Maresca was unable to provide a clear update on the central defender with further clarity expected later this week, however confirmed Fofana would be out for weeks.
"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."
Fortunately for the Blues, they have several defenders capable of stepping in during Fofana’s absence. Benoit Badiashile replaced him on Sunday against Aston Villa, while Tosin Adarabioyo and Axel Disasi are also at Maresca’s disposal.
"It depends a little bit on the game-plan,” responded Maresca on Tuesday when asked who is likely to come into the side to partner Levi Colwill.
“Benoit is one of the solutions, but we also have Tosin, Axel, 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.”
Maresca added: “We had yesterday's session where the guys that played had a recovery. Now, this afternoon, we have one more session and then we decide."