https://www.chelseafc.com/en/news/article/
chelsea-vs-wolves-press-conference-chelsea-news-injury-updates
Chelsea vs Wolves press conference: Potter provides injury update with
good news on Fofana and Cucurella
07 OCT 2022
Graham Potter has confirmed the seriousness of the injury suffered by
Wesley Fofana against AC Milan in an update ahead of Chelsea's next match
against Wolves in the Premier League on Saturday, as well as discussing
when Marc Cucurella and N'Golo Kante could return.
https://i.imgur.com/eI8Vm6o.jpg
Potter was speaking to the media following his team's final training
session before hosting Wolves at Stamford Bridge and discussed the extent
of the injury which forced Fofana out of our Champions League game on
Wednesday evening and how long we can expect him to be out of action.
Defender Wesley Fofana made a great start to his first Champions League
match at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday evening by scoring the first goal of
our 3-0 victory over AC Milan, but his game was ended prematurely before
half-time after he had been visibly struggling with a knee problem
following a foul by Rafael Leao.
Thankfully, Potter confirmed the injury doesn't seem to be as serious as
first feared.
'Wesley's knee's not as bad as we thought after the game, so that's good
because it was a cause for concern at the time, but it will still be a few
weeks I think. It's considerably better than it could be, but he will
obviously be missing for a few weeks,' he explained.
https://i.imgur.com/YPIEkXr.jpg
Fofana was forced off with an injury after opening the scoring against
Milan
'It's just a knee strain so there's a possibility we might see him play
against before the World Cup. It depends on how his rehab goes, I don't
want to put too much of a timescale on it, but there's a chance of that.'
N'Golo Kante is back in training, having not featured since August due to
a hamstring issue, but Potter explained that he will take his time with
the Frenchman's return to make sure there is no recurrence of the injury.
'He's doing more and more integration with the team. He's still not ready
for the weekend but getting closer.
'It is what it is, there's nothing we can do, the injury happened and now
it's about trying to get him back fit and getting him as ready as we can
so he can play for a sustained period.
'He's been in and out with injuries over a period of time so we have to
make sure that when he's back he's back for good and strong and enjoying
his football. So there's no frustration from my perspective, it's just
something we have to deal with.'
Potter also revealed that he is pleased with the progress his team has
made during his first month as Chelsea head coach, but is still just
taking things game by game and not looking too far ahead during this busy
spell until the World Cup.
'I think we've made a little bit of progress in terms of my first day to
now, as you would expect and hope. But there's a long way to go and I
think the thing is we have to just focus on the next match. It's as simple
as that.
'We've got this incredible amount of games to play, so rather than think
too much about what will happen at the end of the season we'll just focus
on the next game.'
There are no Chelsea players suspended for this game, but Wolves will be
without Ruben Neves, who picked up his fifth booking in the Premier League
in their 2-0 defeat at West Ham last week, and Nathan Collins following
his red card in their previous match, a 3-0 loss to Manchester City.
Potter also confirmed that Marc Cucurella is now completely recovered from
his recent illness and is in contention for place in his team against
Wolves.
https://i.imgur.com/AiLNI7J.jpg
Cucurella is back in training and ready to play
'He's fully recovered now, he just needed the time. He was on the bench
against Milan so he's had more time, more recovery and he will be involved
tomorrow.'
Jorginho and Kai Havertz could also both play after coming off the bench
during the second half against Milan following injury, and Edouard Mendy
was among the substitutes for the first time in over a month when we faced
the Italian champions.
https://i.imgur.com/KXSLesV.jpg
Jorginho recovered in time to come off the bench against Milan
Wolves are without new signing Sasa Kalajdzic, who sustained a serious
knee injury last month. Pedro Neto went off injured against West Ham, and
Hee-Chan Hwang is also a major doubt with an adductor muscle strain.
Another attacker, Raul Jimenez, is out, as is long-time absentee Chiquinho.