Chelsea captain Reece James’ latest hamstring injury is in the other leg he had operated on last year and ruled him out for four months.
Head coach Enzo Maresca revealed on Wednesday night that the right-back has had a scan and is already getting “better and better, day by day”.
While Chelsea have deliberately not set a date for his return in order to avoid putting pressure on him, there is optimism over his recovery. The results of the tests were good, indicating it is not a significant strain.
This is the ninth time James has been ruled out with a hamstring injury in the past four years. He went 18 months without completing 90 minutes in the Premier League between April 2023 and October 2024.
Last December, he flew to Finland to have surgery after limping off at Everton in the hope of curing it for good, but he has started just three games for the club since then. However, the fact this hamstring issue is a new problem in the right leg, rather than in the left leg he had an operation on, is regarded as something to be positive about.
On the eve of Chelsea’s Conference League game against German side Heidenheim, Maresca admitted that part of the issues James faces is coping mentally with suffering nine hamstring injuries in four years.
He said: “It’s something he has to fight with that in terms of it is normal, if you get injuries always in the same leg or the same muscle, you can be afraid. It is normal but at the same time, this is his profession and you can get injured. Unfortunately, it is repeating but hopefully we can find a solution soon.”
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