Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca has confirmed yet another injury to the luckless Reece James ahead of Saturday lunchtime's Premier League fixture against Leicester City.
The Blues skipper has been slowly getting back to full sharpness in recent weeks, only to suffer a fresh hamstring problem this month, and Maresca has confirmed that the defender will not be available on Saturday.
The former Foxes boss is confident that James's new issue is nothing serious, though, and he affirmed that the right-back was the only injured player in his ranks, unless he forgot about summer signing Omari Kellyman (thigh).
As a result, Romeo Lavia will presumably be fine to play on Saturday, as should Malo Gusto, Wesley Fofana and Levi Colwill, all of whom should battle back from niggles to line up in an unchanged backline.
Marc Cucurella and Robert Sanchez will join the aforementioned trio in the rearguard, and assuming Lavia is given the all-clear, the Belgian ought to reprise his new midfield partnership with Moises Caicedo.
Both Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez may need close assessment after their late returns from South America, but the former will keep ex-Leicester man Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall at bay if he gets the thumbs-up from the medical team.
Cole Palmer and Jadon Sancho have also been seen in training this week, but the latter is fighting an uphill battle to regain his place over Pedro Neto, scorer of a thunderous leveller in the 1-1 draw with Arsenal two weekends ago.
Noni Madueke and Nicolas Jackson complete the attacking quartet for Chelsea; the former and Palmer have created a combined 17 chances for one another this season, more than any other Premier League duo.
Chelsea possible starting lineup:
Sanchez; Gusto, Fofana, Colwill, Cucurella; Caicedo, Lavia; Madueke, Palmer, Neto; Jackson
> Click here to see how Leicester could line up for this match
Ben Knapton
