Chelsea are set to assess Thiago Silva before the weekend showdown with Manchester City, but there was good news on the status of Malo Gusto.
Having been dropped to the bench for last week’s FA Cup fourth-round replay win at Aston Villa, Silva was restored to the heart of the Blues’ defence for Monday night’s dramatic late Premier League victory against Crystal Palace.
The 39-year-old appeared to hurt his groin while stretching to block a Jean-Philippe Mateta shot on the hour mark at Selhurst Park as Chelsea fought back from Jefferson Lerma’s first-half wonder strike to make it back-to-back away wins to ease the pressure on Mauricio Pochettino courtesy of a dramatic Conor Gallagher brace and last-gasp effort from Enzo Fernandez.
Silva quickly limped off and was replaced by Levi Colwill, himself only back in the matchday squad for Monday’s London derby after missing Chelsea’s last four matches with a hamstring injury.
That was not the only injury scare for Chelsea against Palace, with Malo Gusto also appearing to ask to come off following a late knock as he was replaced by 20-year-old academy graduate defender Alfie Gilchrist with only six minutes left to play.
But while Silva will need to be assessed ahead of Saturday’s daunting trip to face in-form champions Manchester City, Pochettino allayed any concerns over Gusto after the fightback to beat Palace.
"We need to assess Thiago Silva tomorrow because he felt something in his groin,” the Argentine said.
“Malo, I think, was tired, but it's not going to be a big problem to be ready at the weekend.”
Chelsea can ill afford many further injury setbacks, particularly in defence, with their weekend trip to the Etihad Stadium followed by the small matter of a Carabao Cup final showdown with Liverpool at Wembley on February 25.
They also have an FA Cup last-16 clash with Leeds on the horizon as well as further key league outings against the likes of Brentford, Newcastle and Arsenal.
Chelsea have already lost Benoit Badiashile to a groin injury suffered late on against Villa that is expected to keep him sidelined for around a month, ruling him out of the Carabao Cup final.
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Pochettino also remains without captain Reece James plus summer signing Romeo Lavia, Marc Cucurella, Robert Sanchez, Lesley Ugochukwu and Wesley Fofana.
