Graham Potter refused to confirm the extent of Reece James’ knee injury after claims the Chelsea defender could miss the World Cup in Qatar.
The 22-year-old came off during Chelsea’s 2-0 win over AC Milan on Tuesday night in the Champions League at the San Siro.
Concerns over James’ knee injury were quickly played down with hopes that the injury wasn’t as bad as first feared, with the England international staying in Italy for an extra day before returning to England after his Chelsea teammates returned straight after the game.
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He had scans on Thursday and reports emerged that the injury was a lot more serious than first hoped.
James was claimed to be set to miss six to eight weeks, jeopardising his England World Cup chances, after sustaining knee ligament damage.
It was also reported that a decision was yet to be made over whether James would undergo surgery which would definitely rule him out of England’s squad for the World Cup, handing Gareth Southgate a huge selection blow.
But Potter remained coy on James’ injury and revealed he would be seeing a specialist this weekend to learn the full extent of his injury despite the reports.
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He told reporters: "He is due to see a specialist over the weekend so until we get that information there is not much more I can add.
"The rest will just be speculation from my perspective. We will wait and see."
James flew back with budget airline EasyJet on his return from Milan to England which came to the surprise of Potter, who added: “I don’t know, did he?”
Potter had conversations with the right-back on Thursday and revealed James said it ‘felt not too bad’, but we will wait before making any further judgement on how long he could be sidelined for.
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"He spoke yesterday and felt not too bad,” added Potter. “But again until you get these things checked, you never know so we need to make sure it’s checked with the specialist, and then we can find a way forward."
The length of time James could be out remains unclear for now and he will be sweating over his England chances at the World Cup.
Potter doesn't want to focus on the worst case scenario and continues to insist Chelsea will wait for the full diagnosis before coming up with plans and solutions.
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He continued: "Yes (it would be a blow if he’s out for some time), but we will wait and see. There is no point looking at the doomsday scenario yet.
"We just need to check and make sure if he’s ok and then move forward."
Topics: Reece James, Chelsea
Matthew Debono