Chelsea head coach Thomas Tuchel has been forced to confirm that centre-back Antonio Rudiger will miss tomorrow teatime's west London derby against Fulham at Stamford Bridge.
The German defender, who has seen his Blues career revitalised since Tuchel replaced Frank Lampard towards the end of January, picked up an unspecified injury in the closing stages of Tuesday evening's UEFA Champions League clash with Real Madrid.
Although Tuchel has not provided a specific diagnosis of the injury, in terms of what it is or the severity of it, it is enough to rule him, alongside Mateo Kovacic, out of the clash with Scott Parker's Cottagers.
Speaking to the media on Friday lunchtime, Tuchel said: "All the others are available expect for Toni Rudiger, who got injured in the last minute of the Madrid game. Everybody else is available."
The blow of losing Rudiger, who has been key in Chelsea's run of recording 16 clean sheets in 22 matches since Tuchel took charge, has not been softened by the return of Kovacic.
The Croatian has missed the Blues' last five matches with a hamstring problem and is not in contention to make a return just yet.
On Kovacic, Tuchel added: "No unfortunately, not, he is still injured.
"He trained with us, but he's still not fully confident, he felt something at the end of training. So he's not available unfortunately."
Kovacic and Rudiger are the only players Tuchel has ruled out of being available for selection tomorrow, meaning he has a large crop of players to choose from in an attempt to keep his squad fresh ahead of Wednesday's second-leg against Real Madrid.
When asked if it would be difficult to strike a balance between tomorrow's game and Wednesday's huge encounter with the Spanish giants, Tuchel said: "Absolutely. There is no doubt about it. We are in the middle of the race, it is not easy to switch from one competition to another but who cares?
"It is my job to find the mix, to put the players in the right mindset and to prepare for this match in a way they all understand the importance."
