Chelsea boss Graham Potter says a knee injury suffered by Wesley Fofana is not as serious as the club initially feared.
The France defender was taken off shortly after scoring the opening goal in the Blues’ Champions League win against AC Milan on Wednesday.
Speaking at a press conference, Potter said Fofana will be out for “a few weeks” but that the problem is “not as bad as we thought” and a return before November’s World Cup is the aim.
“After the game I was concerned. It is considerably better than it could have been,” Potter said.
Potter added that Marc Cucurella has now fully recovered from a recent illness and will feature against Wolves at Stamford Bridge on Saturday, but N’Golo Kante is not yet ready to return.
Kante, out since limping off against Tottenham with a hamstring injury on 14 August, recently returned to training.
But Potter is determined not to rush the midfielder back, given his previous injury problems.
“He’s doing more integration with the team. He’s still not ready for the weekend but he’s getting closer,” said Potter.
“It’s about trying to get him back fit and getting him as ready as we can so that he can sustain a period of play.
“He’s been in and out with injuries, so we have to make sure that when he’s back he’s back for good.
“I want to make sure that the player is safe and ready to play consistently over a period of time.”