Chelsea caretaker manager Frank Lampard has revealed that Reece James will miss the rest of the season, with Mason Mount expected to follow suit after surgery.
On the back of their exit from the Champions League last week, Lampard has had a week to work with his players for the first time since his arrival earlier this month.
Even with little to play for, the hope had been that Lampard could field as close to his first-choice starting lineup as possible for the remainder of the Premier League campaign.
However, ahead of Wednesday's fixture with Brentford, the club legend has said that will not be the case with James and Mount both ruled out for the foreseeable future.
Although James completed the full 90 minutes against Real Madrid, the right-back sustained a hamstring injury during that encounter.
Meanwhile, Mount has been struggling with an pelvic injury since the beginning of March, and Lampard has revealed that the decision has been taken to undergo an operation.
Speaking at a press conference, Lampard told reporters: "Reece James is unavailable, probably for the season. Mason Mount is the same. Potential for the last game of the season but probably not. That's obviously disappointing for us.
"Reece had a hamstring he picked up in the Madrid game, he got through the game but we scanned it the following day. Mason has been carrying this pelvic injury for quite a while, it pre-dates myself.
"We've been trying and the medical staff have been trying but we've got to the stage now where he'll have a minor surgery. Probably a four-week recovery and we know where that gets us to."
The development with Mount comes at a time when his long-term future has been a constant topic for debate, a result of just over 14 months remaining on his contract.
Despite the stand-off between the relevant parties, it was recently claimed that co-owner Todd Boehly had held face-to-face talks with Mount to express that he was a valued member of the club.
That conversation is said to have taken place at a similar time to Chelsea allegedly making a breakthrough in their search for a new head coach, which will likely be Mauricio Pochettino.
The Argentine is reportedly keen to improve the spirit in the dressing room by placing a certain level of focus on homegrown players, something which may involve Mount being given greater senior status. body check tags ::
