Chelsea defender Antonio Rudiger suffered minor injury against Liverpool and is set to return for run-in

Antonio Rudiger is expected to still be available for the climax to Chelsea’s season despite suffering a knee injury against Liverpool on Sunday.

The German international defender had to be helped off the pitch by two physios on Sunday after sustaining a problem in the first half.

While Rudiger told Standard Sport on leaving the ground that he hoped ‘it wasn’t too bad’, he went for a scan on Monday.

It is believed the 26-year-old suffered only minor damage and any concerns that he might miss the rest of the season have been ruled out.

Rudiger will not be considered to face Slavia Prague in the second leg of Chelsea's Europa League quarter-final on Thursday night.

But he is not going to be on the sidelines for long, which is significant given Chelsea have four matches to try and secure a top-four finish in the Premier League as well as a potential Europa League semi-final against Benfica or Eintracht Frankfurt next month.

Club captain Gary Cahill is in line to be named on the bench against Slavia Prague at Stamford Bridge in Rudiger’s absence.

The 33-year-old has not featured since playing a group game in the competition against PAOK Salonika five months ago. He is out of contract at the end of the campaign and will not be given an extension.

Coach Maurizio Sarri is almost certainly going to pair David Luiz and Andreas Christensen at centre-back in Rudiger’s absence.

Chelsea are strong favourites to reach the last four of the competition having secured a 1-0 victory in Prague last week.