- Chelsea’s captain limped off with a hamstring injury against Everton on Sunday
- The full back has sustained a series of injury setbacks over the past four seasons
- Mauricio Pochettino has so much work to do with woeful Chelsea – It’s All Kicking Off
Chelsea star Reece James is set for another spell on the sidelines after limping off against Everton, with the full back having already missed nearly a full season due to hamstring injuries over the past four years.
The Blues captain has had rotten luck with injuries over the past 12 months and was forced off after 27 minutes of the Blues 2-0 defeat at Goodison Park on Sunday.
The injuries have prevented James from having a consistent run of matches, with the full-back last playing five consecutive full games in the Premier League between the end of the 2021-22 campaign and the start of last season.
Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino admitted his frustration that their captain ‘can’t help the team’ amid a string of injury issues.
‘Reece felt something in his hamstring. For sure he’s injured, but we don’t know how serious it is,’ Pochettino said post-match.
Reece James sustained another hamstring injury during Chelsea’s 2-0 defeat against Everton
The Blues captain limped off in the 27 minute at Goodison Park in his latest injury setback
Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino admitted injuries have meant James can’t help his side
‘Of course for us he is an important player, one of the best full-backs in the world. It is really disappointing because after 15 or 20 minutes we were playing well and I think this type of circumstance makes us change, because of course Malo Gusto is recovering from his injury.
‘We hadn’t given away many chances and then you need to move things to make some changes. Even when Reece went off the team was pushing and playing well.
‘But we are disappointed because when you believe you can build something and a player like him who should be really important for us can’t help the team.
‘We go back and assess again in the next few days what is going on with his hamstring.’
James has already missed seven Premier League matches this season with a hamstring injury, as well as two of the club’s Carabao Cup ties.
The Blues have attempted to ease him back to full fitness with the 24-year-old yet to complete 90 minutes this season.
According to Transfermarkt, James has now missed 35 matches due to hamstring injuries from the 2021-22 campaign.
The latest setback could stretch the run to over a season’s worth of matches missed over the past four years.
James has also missed a further 28 matches through muscle issues, illness and two knee injuries, with the latter ruling him out for 18 matches in the 2022-23 season.
| Injury | Dates | Games missed |
|---|---|---|
| Hamstring injury | Aug 13 – Oct 6, 2023 | 9 |
| Hamstring injury | Apr – May 31, 2023 | 7 |
| Ill | Mar 9 – 15, 2023 | 1 |
| Hamstring injury | Mar 1-5, 2023 | 1 |
| Knee injury | Dec 27 – Jan 31, 2023 | 7 |
| Knee injury | Oct 13 – Dec 12, 2022 | 9 |
| Hamstring injury | Apr 21 – 28, 2022 | 2 |
| Muscle injury | Mar 3 – 21, 2022 | 5 |
| Fitness | Feb 14 – 24, 2022 | 2 |
| Hamstring injury | Dec 27, 2021 – Feb 14, 2022 | 11 |
| Hamstring strain | Dec 24, 2020 – Jan 18, 2021 | 5 |
| Ankle injury | Dec 14 – Dec 28, 2020 | 4 |
James admitted suffering from ‘lowest of lows’ due to injuries in a diary entry back in May
England manager Gareth Southgate watched James leave the pitch at Goodison Park
In May, James shared how he has been affected by persistent fitness problems in a diary entry.
James had been restricted to just 16 appearances in the Premier League last season, while he missed out on playing for England at the World Cup due to a knee injury.
‘Injuries affect me so much. When I’m not playing, I feel like the world’s against me,’ James wrote. ‘The smallest of things will send me wild. It ain’t right or normal but it is what it is.
‘I try so hard but mentally it’s tough, super tough, and draining. The outside world think this “football life” is the perfect life, well let me tell you it’s far from that. Many people won’t ever know what it’s like but it’s a crazy journey, full of highs and lows.
‘Where do I sit in that (at the moment), currently the lowest of my lows in my career so far. It’s s**t but with hard work and patience things improve, without rain nothing grows!’
James has previously shared how injury has affected his mental health on Instagram, doing so at the end of 2022, when he called the year ‘the toughest to date’ and thanked his fans for their support.
Last month James turned down a recall to Gareth Southgate’s England squad for their Euro 2024 qualifiers, with the Three Lions boss revealing the defender had didn’t ‘feel he’s quite ready’ to return after recovering from injury.
Southgate, who watched James sustain his latest injury at Goodison Park, admitted the defender’s place in his Euros squad was a risk.
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