Chelsea forward Christopher Nkunku has suffered a fresh injury blow on his return to first-team action at Chelsea.
The French attacker missed Chelsea's FA Cup third round tie with Preston North End on Saturday evening, which the Blues won 4-0.
Nkunku has only recently recovered from a serious knee injury which kept him out for the second half of 2023.
Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino has tried to protect Nkunku from aggravating a potential injury, but it appears the attacker has suffered a new issue.
After their win over Preston, Pochettino explained Nkunku's absence from the squad which cruised into the fourth round of the FA Cup.
"We know it is difficult after a long time injured, six months away. Now he wasn't involved because he suffered, after training, a problem in his hip and we need to see if he can be ready for the next few games." Pochettino revealed.
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The Chelsea boss was keen to emphasise how difficult it is to handle players suffering with injuries and how to manage their issues.
"They need to play also to get the best and we cannot provide this gametime to players that need to go and feel competition because we need to win.
"Sometimes it's really tough to explain to the players who feel the pressure to perform and to play. Sometimes it is difficult to explain but if you understand football you realize how tough it is." Pochettino stated.
As a whole, it once again leaves Chelsea short in attacking areas, as Nkunku has only made one start in his brief fit spell with the club.
Nicolas Jackson has often been the man to start up front for Chelsea in Nkunku's absence, but even the Senegalese forward was left out for the Blues' FA Cup tie on Saturday due to international duty.
Instead, Armando Broja started at Stamford Bridge, and opened the scoring as Chelsea cruised to a routine victory.
However, Broja has just two goals in 24 Premier League appearances for Chelsea, but still earned a second consecutive start in the cup tie with Preston.
Chelsea have a huge EFL Cup semi-final double-header against Middlesbrough coming up, and Pochettino will hope that he can have his big-money summer signing available for either leg, with the first coming up on Tuesday.
Andrew Delaney
