Chelsea team news: Cesc Fabregas could be the only fully fit midfielder for Antonio Conte in Watford clash

Feeling Blue | Cesc Fabregas could be the only fully fit midfielder for Chelsea this weekend
Richard Heathcote/Getty Images
Vaishali Bhardwaj20 October 2017

Antonio Conte has admitted Cesc Fabregas could be his only fully fit midfielder available for Chelsea's game against Watford on Saturday.

The Blues boss has been without influential midfielder N'Golo Kante since the international break, when the 26-year-old suffered a hamstring injury on France duty.

Danny Drinkwater, a summer signing from Leicester, has struggled with a calf strain while Tiemoue Bakayoko felt pain in his groin during Chelsea's 3-3 Champions League draw against Roma in midweek.

That has left Fabregas the only fully fit midfielder available for the Premier League clash with Watford at Stamford Bridge although Bakayoko could yet make the game.

​Conte said on Friday: "Honestly, at the moment I can tell nothing about the starting XI for tomorrow. [I have] many doubts.

"I hope in these 24 hours to try to recover some players."

When then asked whether Fabregas could be the only fit midfielder available on Saturday, Conte replied: "Could be, yes."

He added on Kante's potential return from injury: "I hope to have him back very soon, before the international break. He's progressing well. The scan was better than before. N'Golo has started to work, not with the group but to find a good fitness.

"[He] could be an option [for the Manchester United game on 5 November] but if Kante is available before then and the game against Roma, I'll be very happy."

Another injury concern for Chelsea is David Luiz, who was brought off in the 57th minute against Roma with a leg issue after playing the match in a defensive midfield position.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in