Medical expert ‘fears the worst’ for James as lengthy Chelsea absence now on the cards
Reece James could be out for as long as “eight weeks” at Chelsea while he recovers from a hamstring injury.
That is the view of injury expert Ben Dinnery, who runs the Premier Injuries site and has a background in medicine and data analysis.
James pulled up and was forced to withdraw before the half-hour mark during Chelsea’s 1-1 draw with Brighton last Wednesday (29 December).
As quoted by Chelsea’s media team last Friday (31 December), manager Thomas Tuchel confirmed the right-back had suffered a hamstring injury.
James is one of nine Chelsea stars currently unavailable for selection, including six defenders.
Dinnery insists that the 22-year-old is facing a lengthy spell on the sidelines and must be managed “very carefully”.
“It didn’t look great,” he told Football Insider‘s Adam Williams.
“You always fear the worst when you see a player depart on crutches as he did that night.
“It will depend on what aspect of the hamstring it is. He appeared to hold the lower part, which could indicate some sort of tendon involvement there.
“We haven’t heard anything about a grade three injury or a rupture, so we can rule out surgery at this stage.
“At the very, very best we are looking at around five to six weeks out. Beyond that, six to eight might be more realistic.
“But it is notoriously difficult with hamstring problems, so it needs to be managed very carefully.
“From the injuries he has had, we know James is a fairly robust player. That is why it was worrying to see him in so much discomfort.
“But he has been a quick healer based on the data we’ve got. Hopefully, it will be relatively swift for him.”
James, who was absent for Chelsea’s 2-0 League Cup semi-final clash against Tottenham last night (5 December), has featured 23 times this season.
Those appearances have yielded five goals and six assists.
In other news, Chelsea sources reveal Romelu Lukaku accused of being “overweight” by Thomas Tuchel behind the scenes.