Cole Palmer is a major doubt for Chelsea’s west London derby against Brentford this weekend, while Liam Delap could be out for up to 12 weeks.
Palmer has not featured since the draw against Crystal Palace on the opening day of the season.
He has been recovering from a groin injury and it was hoped that he would be able to return to action after the international break.
But he might well be unavailable again when the Blues return to Premier League action on Saturday evening.
Palmer only resumed training on Thursday and will be assessed on Friday afternoon to see if he is fit enough to be considered for selection against the Bees.
“He’s recovering from the injury,” Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca explained.
“Cole took part in a (training) session yesterday for the first time. It was not the entire session.
“We have one more session this afternoon and we are going to try with him to see if he is OK. Otherwise he will be out tomorrow again.”
Maresca also confirmed that striker Delap faces a lengthy spell on the sidelines.
The summer signingsuffered a hamstring injury during the recent derby against Fulham.
On a brighter note for Chelsea, captain Reece James, who has been plagued by injury problems, played for England against Serbia this week and is seemingly likely to be involved against Brentford.
Maresca said: “When any player joins an international team, he is fit to play the minutes the manager thinks he has to play.
“When Reece is here, we try to manage him as best as we can. Reece is showing he is quite fit to play two or three games in a week.”
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