Frank Lampard has said that Antonio Rudiger will miss Chelsea's Premier League encounter with Brighton and Hove Albion.
The German international's season is yet to truly get going because of injury.
He picked up a knee problem in the Blues' 1-1 draw against Manchester United at Old Trafford towards the end of the 2018/2019 campaign which caused him to miss the Europa League final win over Arsenal.
Furthermore, Rudiger was denied a pre-season under the new Chelsea head coach.
However, he did return to training ahead of the opening game of the season - ironically against the Red Devils away from home - but Lampard didn't rush the defender back.
Instead Rudiger featured in a couple of Under-23 matches before making his return to the first-team after the first international break of the campaign against Wolves.
Whilst the Blues did record an impressive 5-2 win at Molineux Stadium, the win was somewhat marred with Rudiger having to be replaced at half-time.
He's subsequently missed games against Valencia, Liverpool as well as Grimsby and is set to sit out his fourth successive match as Brighton visit Stamford Bridge on Saturday.
And Lampard has revealed that there's no timeframe for Rudiger's return.
"[Rudiger], out," Lampard confirmed in his pre-match press conference . "Toni has got a recurring injury in the groin, so it’s not the knee. We are trying to find a solution because he still does have some pain.
"We are hopeful that it won’t be long, but we don’t have an end date for you."
Lampard also delivered fitness and injury updates on Andreas Christensen, Olivier Giroud and Emerson Palmieri, with one of the trio in line to face the Seagulls.
"Andreas should be okay," Lampard added. "He has trained with us today, missed most of the week, but there is still a tiny bit of pain so hopefully won't be a risk.
"He will be in the squad.
"[Olivier], Yeah, it has been a difficult week for him because it has been quite strong, it has left him pretty week and he has been getting his strength back this week. It is touch and go to see if he is involved.
"Emerson is going to be the other side of the international break with the hamstring injury."
