“They are out” – Thomas Tuchel confirms 2 Chelsea stars will miss FA Cup game against Chesterfield 

Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel has revealed that the duo of Thiago Silva and N’Golo Kante are out of the Blues' upcoming FA Cup game after testing positive for COVID-19.

The duo did not feature in the 1-0 Carabao Cup first leg semi-final win over Tottenham Hotspur, and are expected to sit out another cup fixture.

Tuchel did, however, reveal that the duo are not showing adverse symptoms and are okay, but will miss the game.

The German is hopeful the trio of Cesar Azpilicueta, Andreas Christensen and Kai Havertz will be available for the clash against Chesterfield in the FA Cup third round on Saturday.

“The long-term injuries will not come back but Azpi just had a cramp, Kai's finger is pretty much ok to play football, our doctors will take care of it. Andreas Christensen was in training yesterday and hopefully there will be no reaction," said Tuchel.

“We will have another training session later and hopefully the situation stays like this in the moment because that will give us some more options," he added.

“Thiago and N'Golo are ok in terms of symptoms but they are out. Nobody else yet,” Tuchel told reporters in his press conference.

Tuchel also added that Timo Werner could get some playing time against Chesterfield. Werner came off the bench against Tottenham on Wednesday in the Carabao Cup tie.

“We want to use the match to get minutes into the guys who need it and want it, like Timo for example. But there are still one or two more Covid tests to do so hopefully the situation stays as it is. We will show a strong line-up, show respect to Chesterfield,” Tuchel said.

Chelsea’s resources are stretched ahead of a busy period

The Blues are still active in four competitions - the Premier League, Carabao Cup, FA Cup, and the Champions League - and will also play in the Club World Cup soon.

The outbreak of COVID-19 cases at the club has hence come at the worst possible time as Tuchel will have to carefully rotate his squad.

Several Chelsea players have been injury-prone this season, so Tuchel can ill-afford to put too much strain on the players with games set to come thick and fast.

The Blues will hope to negotiate a tricky clash against Chesterfield on Saturday before facing Tottenham Hotspur in the return leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final.