Reece James’ return is more needed than ever now thanks to Malo Gusto’s upcoming three match ban for a straight red card against Aston Villa.
The full back won’t be fit for Wednesday’s Carabao Cup match against Brighton, and we would seriously doubt his status for next weekend’s game too. But at the very least we got an update from the man himself on the Chelsea website today:
“It’s been a tough few weeks for me since suffering an injury after the first game,” James wrote.
“My job is to play football and I want to be able to help the team, but I can’t do that at the moment, so right now my job is to get fit as quickly and as safely as possible.
“I want to get back out there soon, but it’s also important to make sure that it’s the right moment, so that when I do come back, I’m in a position to continue the season without any problems later on.
“I’m another stage closer to returning now I’ve been on the grass for the last couple of weeks and I’m working hard right now to come back, put my injury problems to bed and help the team as much as I can.”
It sounds like things are on the mend – the problem with James is that they always sound like they are. Maybe he will be back and playing well before long, but how long can you rely on that? You’d get long odds on him being able to finish out the season without another significant injury.
Our right back problems were supposed to be over with the arrival of Gusto – instead, just a month into the season, we’re onto emergency solutions already.
