As reported by The Athletic, Chelsea will be without star man Reece James for Newcastle’s trip to Stamford Bridge on Sunday.
The 22-year-old has been ruled out for their next four games with a hamstring injury in his right leg.
He sustained the injury in a 4-0 victory away to Burnley last weekend – his first start of 2022 and a game that saw him bag a goal, an assist and a clean sheet in an impressive man of the match display.
The England international has played a key part in Chelsea’s season with five goals and six assists and will be sorely missed from their back-line; especially when Allan Saint-Maximin could be running at whoever replaces him at RWB.
Chelsea will also have Ben Chilwell ruled out for the game, while Marcos Alonso has not long recovered from Covid and Cesar Azpilicueta only recently returned from a knee injury.
The London-based club will have to play three games in seven days, with the Newcastle tie sandwiched between last night’s trip to Norwich and their Champions League second leg in Lille next Wednesday.