Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino says he doesn’t know whether Chelsea captain Reece James will play again this season.

There was an expectation that the right-back would make his comeback at some point next month but, when asked about the possibility of the player returning to action before the final game in May, Pochettino replied:

“No, I don’t know. It’s difficult to say something because I don’t want you to go ‘but, oh, [you said this]’.”

“We will assess it week by week and we will see. We hope yes, we hope that he will be available for the end of the season.”

James has been out since the end of last year

The 24-year-old underwent an operation to fix a hamstring injury back in December and it was estimated that he would be sidelined for up to four months.

James was pictured in light training only a few weeks ago, which suggested that he was on course to make his return on schedule, but it appears there may have been a setback of some kind.

Two other Chelsea players have been ruled out for the rest of the campaign

Pochettino has previously confirmed that Wesley Fofana would not play before the end of the season. The defender sustained an ACL injury all the way back in July.

Fofana had spoken out on social media, expressing hope that he would be available for selection ahead of the summer, but it is now expected that he will not feature in any games.

Earlier this week, Romeo Lavia also put out a statement to say that he would not be ready to play in Chelsea’s remaining fixtures this campaign. The Belgian international sustained a quad injury on his debut against Crystal Palace in December and he has not been seen in action since.