Chelsea striker Liam Delap is reportedly set for one more lengthy spell on the sidelines after he picked up a shoulder injury within the 0-0 draw with Bournemouth.
Delap was handed his second successive Premier League start on Saturday as Enzo Maresca’s side travelled to the south coast.
Nevertheless, the striker’s match lasted little greater than half-hour after he landed awkwardly on his shoulder following a duel with Marcos Senesi.
The Englishman was subsequently replaced by Marc Guiu, using his match shirt as a makeshift sling as he made his way off the pitch in clear discomfort.
Speaking after the sport, Maresca hinted that the early signs weren’t positive for Delap, telling reporters: ‘Unfortunately he was already out for 2 months and he needs to be out again.
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‘We don’t know for a way long, however it looks quite bad, his shoulder.’
And talkSPORT are actually reporting that Delap tore his shoulder ligaments in the autumn and could possibly be facing as much as eight weeks out with the injury.
The news will likely be a bitter blow for the striker, who signed for £30million from Ipswich Town over the summer but has endured a tricky begin to life at Stamford Bridge.
Delap missed almost two months of motion resulting from a hamstring injury which he sustained within the third league game of the season against Fulham.
The striker made his return in late October against Wolves, but his cameo off the bench lasted only 26 minutes before he was sent off following a second yellow card.
Chelsea’s upcoming fixtures
Atalanta vs Chelsea (Champions League, December 9)
Chelsea vs Everton (Premier League, December 13)
Cardiff vs Chelsea (Carabao Cup, December 16)
Newcastle vs Chelsea (Premier League, December 20)
Chelsea vs Aston Villa (Premier League, December 27)
Chelsea vs Bournemouth (Premier League, December 30)
Manchester City vs Chelsea (Premier League, January 4)
The 22-year-old did get his first goal for the club in last month’s impressive 3-0 win over Barcelona within the Champions League.
But Delap remains to be yet to get off the mark for the Blues within the league, having scored 12 times for Ipswich under Kieran McKenna last season.
With Delap out injured, Joao Pedro and Guiu are Maresca’s two centre forward options, althogh the Italian has deployed Pedro Neto centrally in recent weeks.
Chelsea are in desperate need of a positive result after a midweek defeat to Leeds United and a goalless draw with Bournemouth on the weekend.
The Blues currently sit fifth and eight points of league leaders Arsenal, but have a difficult upcoming fixture list over the busy festive period.
Maresca’s side travel to face Atalanta within the Champions League before a house league game against Everton and a visit to Cardiff within the Carabao Cup quarter-finals.
But after that, Chelsea face a tricky run against Newcastle, Aston Villa, Bournemouth and Manchester City within the space of just 16 days over the Christmas and Recent 12 months period.
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