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Chelsea have been handed a severe injury blow after scans revealed that forward Christan Pulisic suffered a hamstring concern. The 22-year-old was one of the standout performers for Chelsea post-lockdown last season and played a key role in helping the club secure a top-four finish as well as a place in the FA Cup final.
Disaster, however, struck at Wembley when he suffered a hamstring injury in the second half, having initially opened the scoring in the FA Cup final against Arsenal.
The injury ruled him out of the Blues' short-lived Champions League sojourn, as well as the start of the current season. However, after having returned to full fitness in recent weeks, the former Borussia Dortmund man was in line to start for Chelsea in the game against Burnley.
Christian Pulisic pulled up with an injury in the warmup for the clash and was replaced in the starting lineup by Timo Werner.
It now appears that Frank Lampard will have to do without his number 10's services for the foreseeable future, although the Chelsea manager attempted to downplay the severity of the injury. Hamstrings generally take a few weeks to months to completely heal but Lampard reiterated that the damage has not been fully assessed.
Addressing Pulisic's injury, the Chelsea gaffer said:
"He’s played three games, we’ve tried to manage him in the week and it’s a small feeling in his hamstring so we’ll have to see how he is over the next 24 hours."
"It’s a minor feeling that he had but he was definitely not ready to go into a 90 minute game with that. Hopefully, it’s short term, we’re talking weeks. He’s frustrated because he’s worked so hard to get fit."
Chelsea and their quest to rise back to the top
Chelsea were by far the biggest spenders of the summer, spending in excess of £200m to augment their squad.
However, despite the huge outlay, several of the underlying problems of last season remained while some of the new signings took time to acclimatize to their new surroundings. The arrival of Edouard Mendy in goal has helped solidify the defence and Chelsea are currently on a run of three consecutive clean sheets.
This is a far cry from the side that had clean sheets at a premium whenever Kepa was in goal. This return to form and the fitness of key forwards has gotten fans dreaming of what their side can achieve this season.
Despite the injury to Christian Pulisic, Lampard still has more than enough firepower to get the job done against Rennes. The fit-again Hakim Ziyech will be eager to show what he is capable of, having seen his Stamford Bridge career halted by fitness issues.
