Graham Potter confirms further tests for Reece James over knee injury concerns

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Graham Potter confirms further tests for Reece James over knee injury concerns

Chelsea manager Graham Potter has revealed right-back Reece James has been sent to see a specialist amid concerns over the severity of his knee injury.

Despite initial positivity surrounding James' injury, which he picked up in the 2-0 win over AC Milan, further checks have identified more significant damage and the right-back may end up requiring surgery, which would rule him out of the World Cup.

Unsurprisingly, James' fitness dominated Potter's press conference ahead of Sunday's meeting with Aston Villa.

"He is due to see a specialist over the weekend so until we get that information there is not much more I can add," Potter said. "The rest will just be speculation from my perspective. We will wait and see."

He added: "I don’t think [the injury has worsened] but again we just need to check. There is discomfort so we just need to check and see a specialist."

Potter also confirmed that James did not appear to be struggling with the injury on Thursday but declined to discuss the latest diagnosis.

"He spoke yesterday and felt not too bad," Potter said. "But again until you get these things checked, you never know so we need to make sure it’s checked with the specialist, and then we can find a way forward.

"There is no point looking at the doomsday scenario yet. We just need to check and make sure if he’s ok and then move forward."