Head coach Thomas Tuchel has refused to rule midfield enforcer N'Golo Kante out of Chelsea's Premier League finale against Aston Villa at Villa Park on Sunday afternoon through injury.
The Frenchman, who has played a key role in the success Tuchel has experienced since arriving in west London towards the end of January, was forced off just past the half hour mark during Tuesday evening's 2-1 win over Leicester City with a minor hamstring issue.
After the game, Tuchel, who called upon Mateo Kovacic to replace the former Leicester man, played down the severity of the injury, insisting that he took him out of the firing line before the situation worsened.
However, the German now faces an anxious wait to discover whether or not Kante will be available for the clash with Dean Smith's side, as well as having to think about whether or not he wishes to risk playing him ahead of next weekend's UEFA Champions League final against Manchester City in Portugal.
Issuing an update on the midfield ace during his pre-match press conference on Friday lunchtime, Tuchel said: "With NG [Kante] it's going to be very close but there are some hopes he joins team training tomorrow.
"If not, he'll join on Monday."
Considering Chelsea are not yet guaranteed a top-four finish, Tuchel will be hoping to call upon his star players to get the job done against Villa, although he probably would have liked to have rotated his pack and not risked any further injuries to his key personnel ahead of the clash with City.
While Kante is touch-and-go for the trip to Villa Park, Tuchel has been able to confirm that centre-back Andreas Christensen will return after missing the last three games with a hamstring complaint of his own.
"Andreas Christensen will be in the squad," Tuchel confirmed. "He did full training today and yesterday without any problems. So he will be back."
Meanwhile, Tuchel has also confirmed that attacking-midfielder Kai Havertz, who was named in Germany's squad for the upcoming European Championships earlier this week, will be tested ahead of a decision seemingly being made on his availability.
Tuchel added: "Kai did a test today and will be tested in team training tomorrow."
The Chelsea boss reported no other fresh injury concerns.
