Injury expert predicts Mason Mount return date after ‘clue’ from Chelsea in Abu Dhabi
Mason Mount could be in contention to feature for Chelsea tomorrow in their opening Club World Cup match against Al-Hilal (9 February).
That is the view of injury expert Ben Dinnery, who runs the Premier Injuries site and has a background in medicine and data analysis.
Mount was taken off early in extra time as Chelsea beat Plymouth Argyle 2-1 in the FA Cup last Saturday (5 February).
It later emerged that the 23-year-old playmaker had injured himself in the process of striking a shot.
But official club media confirmed yesterday (7 February) that Mount had resumed light training and fitness work at their Abu Dhabi training base.
And Dinnery suggests that the Cobham academy graduate could be in contention for the Club World Cup semi-final tomorrow.
“It’s more than likely a soft tissue problem,” he told Football Insider‘s Adam Williams.
“The fact that it was in extra time might tell us that it is a little bit of fatigue.
“Players were coming back off the break and trying to play themselves back into competitive football.
“He started training individually and then took part in aspects of team training in Abu Dhabi.
“But he has now been involved in a full session. That might be a clue that it’s not as serious as it potentially could have been.
“It certainly puts him into the mix for that first Club World Cup game.”
Mount has registered seven goals and eight assists in 32 appearances this term.
Chelsea will be without Ben Chilwell, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Edouard Mendy and Reece James tomorrow, while Thiago Silva and Christian Pulisic are doubts.
In other news, ex-Fifa official has major concerns at Club World Cup experiment Arsene Wenger ‘instigated’