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Medical insider: Next 48 hours 'critical' for Reece James after 'damning' repeat injury news
Chelsea face a 48-hour period to assess Reece James but are likely to be without the full-back for weeks after his injury against Bournemouth.
That is the view of medical expert Ben Dinnery, who runs the Premier Injuries site and spoke exclusively to Football Insider about the latest setback for Chelsea’s right-back this week.
James was ruled out of the 2022 World Cup after suffering a major knee injury early in November, but the 23-year-old recovered over the winter break and was named in the Blues’ starting lineup against Bournemouth on Tuesday (27 December).
However, James lasted just 53 minutes before hobbling off and heading straight down the tunnel.
Following the full-time whistle, Graham Potter confirmed to the BBC that James’ setback on Tuesday evening was in the same area as his original knee injury.
Dinnery insists the decision for James to start would have been largely player-led and that Chelsea now face a critical 24-48 hours to assess him and formulate a recovery timeline.
“He came through a 60-minute spell in a behind-closed-doors friendly against Brentford but you obviously can’t replicate the intensity of the Premier League in a non-competitive game,” Dinnery told Football Insider’s Sean Fisher.
“So until he went and crossed the white line in the Premier League you’re never 100% sure of how he’ll react and respond to that.
“Regards the decision for him to return, they’re never done in isolation. They will be done with conversations with the player himself.
“Reece would have had a good insight into his recovery and the conversations are likely player-led while Graham Potter would have also been in contact with his backroom staff and medical teams.
“It comes down to risk and reward in terms of throwing someone back into the mix after a fairly significant period on the sidelines.
“My understanding is that Reece James was probably going to play until around the hour mark but couldn’t quite get to that point.
“The player’s reaction is fairly damning. He knew straight away and was very disappointed.
“These 24-48 hours are critical to evaluate and assess. Chances are he’ll be sent for imaging to get a more definitive understanding of what has happened.
“It didn’t look great and I’d be very surprised if it wasn’t at least a few weeks on the sidelines.”
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