Graham Potter was handed a warning on Tuesday night over Mateo Kovacic's injury following his previous admission about the Chelsea players workload.
The Croatian midfielder put in a super performance against RB Salzburg in the Champions League but was substituted in the 68th minute.
In Chelsea's 2-1 win at the Red Bull Arena, Kovacic opened the scoring with a special strike, his left footed shot from the edge of the box found the top corner. It was a wonderful hit, and in the second half Kai Havertz followed in a similar manner, hitting a fantastic effort to give the Blues all three points.
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The result saw Potter's side seal their place at both the top of Group E and in the Round of 16.
Considering they begun their European journey with a defeat and a draw, it has been an impressive turnaround to win the group with a game to spare.
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One negative to take from the match however was that the reason Kovacic came off midway through the second half was due to injury. Following the game the English head coach revealed: "There was just a bit of tightness (in his calf). Hopefully not too bad."
While it is not necessarily a serious injury, it will still be a cause for concern.
Following the game against Manchester United at the weekend, Potter shared that the midfielder had been nursing a knee injury for pretty much the whole season.
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The intensity of the schedule has certainly caused some problems, making it tricky to manage his workload.
In the match against the Red Devils, Kovacic entered the fray sooner than expected, he appeared from the bench after just 36 minutes as the 47-year-old opted to change the Blues' shape as they were struggling.
This was successful as Kovacic came on and put in a good display, but it probably was rather challenging for him.
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Potter went onto add: "We’ve planned for him to have less time than he has but things have conspired so he has been on the pitch.
"We all know his quality but at the same time, we’ve got to understand the player’s situation as well.”
The victory against Salzburg may help out the Croatian quite a bit, as with Chelsea qualified for the knockouts, Potter can afford to play a rotated squad for the game against Dinamo Zagreb next Wednesday.
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That may hand Kovacic the opportunity to get some rest and recovery time, and be back to his full fitness for the game against Arsenal on November 6th.
Topics: Chelsea, Mateo Kovacic, Graham Potter, Football
Sam Collins