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Football London
Football London
Sport
Tashan Deniran-Alleyne

Chelsea and Maurizio Sarri handed massive injury boost ahead of crucial Cardiff City clash

Chelsea have been handed a major injury boost ahead of this afternoon's Premier League clash against relegation threatened Cardiff City.

Defeat at Everton before the international break denied the Blues the chance to move level on points with London rivals Arsenal, but can do so by recording a double over the Bluebirds.

The task of getting a win in Wales may have been made a lot more easier with the news that Neil Warnock has confirmed a major injury blow ahead of the game.

Wolves boss Nuno Espirito Santo responds to calls for him to replace Maurizio Sarri at Chelsea

Callum Paterson - one of the Bluebirds' leading scorers this season - limped off after only 32 minutes during Scotland's Euro 2020 qualifier against San Marino last weekend and rolled his ankle.

He will miss the game at the Cardiff City stadium as confirmed by Warnock.

"He’s having an operation on Monday and should be out until pre-season," he told reporters. "A big blow. The same day (Matt) Connolly was just coming back training and he dislocated his ankle.

"It's no good saying it's not a blow. Contrary to what was said before the Scottish game, I never said anything to Alex (McLeish, Scotland boss) about (Paterson) not playing on the plastic pitch.

"But he had such a bad injury with his knee I think they spoke between themselves.

"But the second game was a disaster for us, but it’s one of those things."

It finished 4-1 to the west London outfit in the reverse fixture earlier in the season, with Eden Hazard helping himself to a hat-trick and they'll need to be just as ruthless to come away with maximum points.

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