Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel confirmed a minor injury blow for his key midfield man Mateo Kovacic ahead of Saturday’s outing at St. James’ Park.
The Blues are set to face Newcastle United but will have to make do without Kovacic in their ranks with the former Real Madrid player in line for a spell on the sidelines with a hamstring issue.
In his pre-match press conference in the build-up to the weekend clash against The Magpies, Tuchel sounded out his side’s latest blow on the injury front with Kovacic sustaining an injury in training which will keep him out of the fold for the next few weeks.
“You have just reminded me, he suffered a hamstring injury in training and will be out for some weeks.”
Kovacic’s absence for the forthcoming games is likely to mean a return to the first-choice midfield pairing of N’Golo Kante and Jorginho as Tuchel has his summer recruit Saul Niguez waiting in the wings should an opportunity come his way.
Saul despite a slow start to life in England’s top flight since his deadline day move to Chelsea put out a solid display in the centre of the park earlier this week in the EFL Cup where Chelsea handed a narrow defeat to Southampton following a penalty shootout.
