Billy Gilmour could be in line for a rare Chelsea appearance against Fulham, Thomas Tuchel has confirmed.
Since returning from a knee injury that curtailed his breakthrough 2019/20 season, the Scotland international has found first-team opportunities few and far between.
Yet to feature in the Premier League under Tuchel, Gilmour 's last start for Chelsea came in the 2-0 FA Cup quarter-final win over Sheffield United towards the end of March.
But with Mateo Kovacic ruled out of Saturday's west London derby at Stamford Bridge, coupled with Tuchel perhaps having one eye on next week's Champions League decider against Real Madrid, there could be an opportunity for the midfielder.
In fact, the Blues head coach has revealed when he will make a decision on his starting XI.
"Could be tomorrow, but it is not decided yet," Tuchel said in his pre-match press conference when asked if Gilmour could be involved against the Cottagers.
"N’Golo feels very good, Jorgi looked very good and in training again today the guys are super professional, they know that we miss Kova a lot so I have the feeling Jorgi and N’Golo step even up, even if that is not possible I have the impression they step up in doing really everything to recover as fast as possible.
"They looked very good today in training so I was quite impressed.
"The last decision is made today so in the evening, the afternoon or maybe tomorrow morning but Billy is in the squad, he was very close to playing the last games some minutes so he is in good shape."
A highly-rated midfielder, Gilmour has been tipped by none other than Sir Alex Ferguson to have a bright future in the game.
"He's another young kid who is emerging," the former Manchester United manager said, speaking to the official You Tube channel of the Scotland national team. "I saw him play for Chelsea in one of the games towards the start of the season, and he did really well.
"He got an injury that held him back a bit, but he is an emerging player there is no doubt about that, and that is good to see young players like him coming through and the quality of players in England. We are blessed with some good young players coming through."
