James was still absent from training despite Alonso describing his injury as "little issues".
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Chelsea captain Reece James was absent from team training on Tuesday amid a minor knee issue, according to reports.
James missed out on Chelsea’s 5-1 Premier League win over Bournemouth on Saturday, after which Xabi Alonso confirmed the defender’s knee injury.
Alonso described it as “little issues” and said Chelsea would assess the 26-year-old’s situation on a weekly basis.
It remains unclear whether James will be available for the trip to Everton on Saturday, but Sky Sports report that the versatile defender was missing from Chelsea’s training on Tuesday, at least for the first 15 minutes, which was open to the media.
James already missed two consecutive matches, having sustained a hamstring injury that forced him out of Chelsea’s defeat to Brentford in the week leading up to the international break.
He had time to recover and was even expected to be back for the Bournemouth game before he sustained his latest knee injury in training last Friday.
Jordan Henderson’s form a relief amid James’ absence
Henderson stole the limelight in the Bournemouth win with his brace, including an outstanding free-kick goal late in the game, and an assist.
In addition to Moises Caicedo’s long-awaited return, Henderson’s presence and leadership qualities would prove valuable to the team if Chelsea were to be without their captain once again this weekend.
Alonso also still has Romeo Lavia and Valentin Barco as alternative central midfield options, so James’ possible absence should not cause too much a problem depth-wise.
However, Chelsea would hope James could return as early as possible, especially with a derby against Tottenham Hotspur and back-to-back games against Liverpool and Manchester United approaching.
James’ physicality, in particular, could be key in these big games.
Aside from James, the only other player on Chelsea’s injury list is Jamie Gittens, who suffered an ankle injury while on international duty with England Under-21s.
Speaking before the Bournemouth game, Alonso confirmed that Gittens would be out for “a few weeks”.
Gittens’ absence, however, is not as big a blow to Chelsea as James’.
The 22-year-old winger has only played 55 minutes across two Carabao Cup appearances this season. Like Estevao Willian and Geovany Quenda, Gittens has suffered under Alonso’s preferred 3-4-2-1 system, which uses two number 10s, Morgan Rogers and Cole Palmer, instead of touchline wingers.
That said, Gittens had never been left out of the team sheet before the injury, so it is clear that Alonso still sees him as a valuable piece to his plans.