Chelsea interim manager Frank Lampard has admitted that N'Golo Kante may have played his final game this season due to a fresh groin injury.
The 32-year-old, who has been restricted to just nine appearances this season due to a previous severe hamstring problem, had enjoyed a consistent run of starts prior to Saturday's visit of Nottingham Forest.
Having recovered from surgery, Kante was named in the first XI for both of Chelsea's Champions League quarter-final ties with Real Madrid and played the full 90 in Premier League losses to Brentford and Arsenal.
The Frenchman retained his place in the first XI for last weekend's success at Bournemouth, providing an assist for Conor Gallagher's opener before coming off on the 63-minute mark.
Kante's withdrawal at the Vitality Stadium was a tactical one, and the former Leicester City man was expected to be involved when the Blues welcomed Forest to Stamford Bridge on Saturday.
However, Kante was nowhere to be seen on the day, and Lampard subsequently revealed that the midfielder had picked up a groin injury during Friday's training session.
The former Blues lynchpin conceded that the issue could render Kante unavailable for at least a couple of weeks, meaning that his hopes of playing again before the campaign concludes are slim.
"We lost N'Golo in training yesterday. He felt something in his groin, so that's probably a couple of weeks and we know what that means pretty much," Lampard told the press.
Should Kante fail to recover in time for the Blues' final three fixtures with Manchester City, Manchester United or Chelsea, the France international will end a forgettable season with one assist from a mere nine appearances in all tournaments.
Kante has played just 520 minutes of Premier League football during the current campaign, and he is yet to agree to a contract extension beyond the end of June, meaning that he could have even played his final game for the West London club.
However, the 32-year-old recently affirmed that he was hoping to stay at Chelsea, although there have been few updates on his contract situation since it was reported that both parties were closing in on an agreement towards the end of March.
Since leaving Leicester in a £31.5m deal in 2016, Kante has posted 13 goals and 16 assists in 269 outings for Chelsea, winning the Champions League, Premier League, Europa League, FA Cup, Club World Cup, UEFA Super Cup
Kante's groin issue was not the only injury concern that Chelsea suffered at the weekend, as his fellow midfielder Mateo Kovacic was forced off towards the end of the first half of Saturday's draw with Forest.
No update on the Croatian's condition has been given, but he is also facing an uncertain future in West London, as his contract only runs until the summer of 2024.
Braces from Raheem Sterling and Taiwo Awoniyi saw Chelsea and Forest cancel each other out in a 2-2 draw on Saturday, leaving Lampard's side in 11th in the table ahead of London rivals Crystal Palace. body check tags ::
