Calum McFarlane has provided an update on Robert Sanchez and Jesse Derry, who were substituted during Monday’s 3-1 defeat to Nottingham Forest following head injuries.
The Blues slipped to ninth in the Premier League following this, their sixth consecutive defeat, and picked up a brace of new injury worries as their hopes of qualifying for the Champions League took a considerable blow.
Derry was stretchered off and hospitalised after being knocked out by a head-to-head collision with Zach Abbott, for which he received nearly 20 minutes of on-pitch treatment. A statement from Chelsea later confirmed he is conscious and talking.
It read: “Jesse is conscious, talking and undergoing precautionary checks. We wish him a speedy recovery and thank the medical staff for their swift response.”
Goalkeeper Sanchez then clashed heads in a 50/50 with Morgan Gibbs-White. Both players were taken off for either team but neither player’s substitution pertained to Premier League concussion protocols.
The Premier League later confirmed that Abbott’s substitution was the only of the four head injury-caused substitutions to be logged as a concussion protocol.
After the match, Chelsea’s interim head coach McFarlane provided an update on Derry and Sanchez.
“We're hearing positive signs from Jesse and Rob [Sanchez] and I hope the Nottingham Forest players are okay as well,” he said.
Derry, 18, was making his full debut following knocks suffered by fellow wingers Pedro Neto and Alejandro Garnacho on the eve of the game.
He had previously made only substitute appearances for the first team this season.
In his post-match press conference, McFarlane confirmed: “They took knocks, yes. Knocks in training yesterday [Sunday].”
Chelsea return to Premier League action next weekend, visiting Liverpool.
