Chelsea head coach Liam Rosenior is hopeful that the ankle injury sustained by Trevoh Chalobah against Paris Saint-Germain is not as serious as first feared.
The Blues conceded two goals inside the first 14 minutes on the way to losing 3-0 in the second leg of their Champions League last 16 tie on Tuesday night.
During the second half, Rosenior made the decision to substitute four of his key players between the 59th and 71st minutes, and later attempted to justify his decision.
However, minutes before the full-time whistle, Chalobah caused concern after he suffered an ankle injury in a challenge with Achraf Hakimi.
Such was the severity of the injury that the defender was stretchered off, leaving the Premier League side down to 10 men.
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Rosenior reveals possible nature of Chalobah injury
Speaking after the match, Rosenior was quizzed on the issue, suggesting that the academy graduate may have avoided ligament damage or any kind of fracture or break.
Rosenior told TNT Sports: "I just asked the medical team, he's got a high ankle sprain, so I'm praying it's nothing too serious because of the way Trevoh's been performing and we can't afford to lose another defender at this moment."
When talking to reporters at a press conference, he added: "I think he was really worried. We are hoping and praying it wasn't as bad as we first thought."
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Chalobah injury a major blow for Chelsea
Regardless of the exact severity of the injury, Chalobah is ruled out of Saturday's trip to Everton in the Premier League.
The fact that the 26-year-old has made 38 starts for Chelsea in all competitions across 2025-26 emphasises his importance to the backline and squad.
His injury comes just days after fellow homegrown talent Reece James was ruled out for the foreseeable future with a hamstring injury.
At a time when Wesley Fofana's minutes are being managed due to muscle fatigue, Chelsea's backline will look particularly vulnerable to a physically-imposing Everton outfit on Merseyside this weekend.
Fofana, Mamadou Sarr - who was substituted at half time against PSG - Tosin Adarabioyo, Jorrel Hato and Josh Acheampong appear to be Rosenior's options for the showdown with the Toffees. Benoit Badiashile was not part of the squad on Tuesday night.