Chelsea ace Edouard Mendy in ‘race against pain and time’ to be fit for epic Premier League six-pointer against Man City
CHELSEA goalkeeper Edouard Mendy faces a 'race against pain and time' to be fit for the Premier League clash against Manchester City.
The shot-stopper missed Chelsea's 3-0 away win over fierce rivals Tottenham with a hip injury.
And he's due to miss Wednesday's Carabao Cup tie against Aston Villa too.
But tomorrow's game is not the worry for Chelsea in terms of getting Mendy fit.
They have Kepa Arrizabalaga or Marcus Bettinelli to fill the hole left by the 29-year-old.
Saturday's six-pointer against City, however, will be a concern for the Blues.
Champions League-winning boss Thomas Tuchel confirmed Mendy's absence for Wednesday.
And says an appearance on Saturday against City depends on how much pain the keeper is in come training on Thursday.
Most read in Football
FREE BETS: GET OVER £2,000 IN NEW CUSTOMER DEALS
The German said: "Mendy cannot play [against Villa]. He is not training so far.
"We will try to do everything for Saturday and to reintegrate him tomorrow in individual training and hopefully in Thursday’s team training but not yet.
"It’s a matter of the amount of pain and the loads that we have for the players and there was quite some intensive games.
"I think it’s possible [he could play against City] but it’s a race against pain and a race against time so let’s see.
"Hopefully he will be back in team training on Thursday and if this goes well he can be ready for Saturday but I don’t know right now."
Wednesday night could give Tuchel the chance to experiment.
I think it’s possible [he could play against City] but it’s a race against pain and a race against time so let’s see.
Thomas Tuchel
Timo Werner COULD start up front alongside club record signing Romelu Lukaku.
Tuchel added: "Timo can play with Romelu, that is sure, and he did very well at Tottenham the last 25 to 30 minutes of the match.
"That gave us a clear impression of how dangerous these two can be together.
"There was some disappointment to brush off Timo’s shoulders from the Euros during the summer, and from the first games here I think he was not happy with the performances in the beginning.
"We were not absolutely happy because we know that he can be much more of an attacking threat than he was.
"But in the last training sessions he was more relaxed, more fluid in his movements with more confidence, and that's why we put him on early against Tottenham because we saw his development.
"We had him in dangerous positions around Romelu, he was not too far out on the pitch, he was in and around the box and he had his chances, and the assist which was well done.
"In training he moves more freely and his decision-making is with more confidence.
Read more on the Scottish Sun
"There are clear signs that he is in a good way, and I hope he can show and prove it tomorrow."
⚽ Read our Football news live blog for the very latest rumours, gossip and done deals