Chelsea lose Ruben Loftus-Cheek for rest of January as back injury struggles to heal

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Simon Johnson7 January 2019

Ruben Loftus-Cheek is set to the rest of Chelsea's games in January after revealing he needs to takes a long break to fully recover from a back injury.

The England midfielder limped off in tears during Chelsea's FA Cup win over Nottingham Forest on Saturday.

Problems with his back have flared up throughout his career. It was the reason why the 22-year-old missed consecutive matches against Watford and Crystal Palace over the Christmas period.

Chelsea hoped the one week rest would be enough, but it hasn't healed and now Loftus-Cheek is expected to be out for some time.

He said: "It's not good. I have been struggling with it for the last few weeks. I'm going to have to take some proper time out to make sure it heals properly. I'm gutted."

The timing couldn't be much worse for Chelsea or Loftus-Cheek, who has finally been playing regularly under coach Maurizio Sarri.

Sarri's side have six more fixtures to play in January, including the two-legged League Cup semi-final against Tottenham.

Loftus-Cheek had a great chance of being involved in the first leg with Spurs on Tuesday night because Pedro (hamstring) and Willian (calf) have been sidelined.

Bayern want to sing Hudson-Odoi this month.
Getty Images

Both are touch and go to return at Wembley although England Under-21 international Callum Hudson-Odoi, who impressed in the victory over Nottingham Forest, is in contention.

One of Sarri's assistants, former keeper Carlo Cudicini, said: “We are very sorry for the kid (Loftus-Cheek) to be honest. His impact on the games he played so far has been very good.

“It’s something that is affecting him and something we need to look at resolving. Obviously, it’s been going on for a while and now he will probably have to stop for a bit to try to resolve it.

“Hudson-Odoi did very well, it was a very good performance (against Nottingham Forest). Two assists and he worked very hard defensively. Even when we had a few problems in midfield with (Ethan) Ampadu, he was running for two.

"His commitment was great and you want him to have performances like that so he can put some doubts in Maurizio’s mind and be in contention for a place.”

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