Chelsea right back Reece James has been forced off with an injury in the Blues’ clash with Bournemouth.
The right back was playing his first game for the club after picking up a knee injury in October that ruled him out of the World Cup, but signaled he needed to come off just five minutes into the second half and received treatment on the pitch.
He appeared to be in some pain but was able to walk off unassisted.
Chelsea boss Graham Potter said before the game he did not expect the right back to complete a full 90 minutes, but he would have hoped to have taken off the England international in more positive circumstances.
James appeared to point at his knee as he asked to be taken off, but it is not yet clear if this is a new knock or an aggravation of his original injury.
The full back had put in an impressive display, with Joe Cole praising how he ‘got back up to speed straight away’ on Prime Video’s coverage of the game.
Potter seemed positive about James’ situation before the game, as he told reporters: ‘I have to say he is in a good mood, he is in a good place.’
On his reaction to missing the World Cup, the manager added: ‘He has trained with us, is training well and is a good team-mate. He has dealt with it well.
‘There is not too much you can say. You say it will get better with time and you have to focus on the things you can control. But there is nothing you can say to a player that will make it get better.
‘All I can do is acknowledge that it is upsetting, that whatever he is feeling is normal and help him move forwards. It was a challenging period for him. It was a challenging period for all the players [who missed the World Cup]. They’re only human.’
The Chelsea boss was unable to reveal much about the extent of James’ injury after the final whistle.
When asked what he knew about the issue, Potter told Amazon Prime: ‘Not too much. We’ll have to see in the next 24-48 hours. But disappointing to lose him as quickly as we did.’
It remains to be seen how James’ outlook will be affected by what could be another setback in a season the 23-year-old will be keen to forget.
He was replaced by club captain Cesar Azpilicueta as Chelsea went on to pick up a 2-0 win against the Cherries at Stamford Bridge.
SOURCE: dailymail.co.uk
