Mason Mount has been ruled out of Chelsea's next two matches with a foot injury, but Thomas Tuchel is pushing for the midfielder to return in time for next week's EFL Cup final.
England international Mount limped off in the first half of Chelsea's Club World Cup final victory against Palmeiras last weekend after damaging ligaments in his ankle.
That was the 23-year-old's 34th appearance of the season in all competitions, level with Antonio Rudiger for the most of any Chelsea player.
Mount's 15 direct goal involvements this season are the most of any Blues player, the England international having scored seven and assisted eight.
Tuchel is therefore eager to get Mount back to fitness in time for the EFL Cup final with Liverpool at Wembley on February 27.
Asked for an update on when Mount could return, Tuchel said at a news conference on Friday: "We will push for the EFL Cup final. We will push.
"He has injured ligaments. Returning against Lille in the Champions League [on Tuesday] seems very, very close, but we will try hard for the EFL Cup final."
Tuchel also confirmed ahead of Saturday's trip to London rivals Crystal Palace that Reece James – who has not played since December – is set to return to training next week.
Cesar Azpilicueta is therefore expected to fill in once again on the right-hand side of the defence against Palace, a week on from lifting the Club World Cup in Abu Dhabi.
The Spain international has won every trophy available at club level with Chelsea, but he is set to become a free agent at the end of the campaign.
Tuchel remains a big fan of the long-serving defender, who has racked up more than 450 appearances for the club.
"He's always important; he has been super important since day one," Tuchel said. "We had a good connection from the first day.
"He gets better with every game he plays, he leads by example, which is always super nice to have.
"Now he has collected so many trophies and an incredible career at one club which is outstanding.
"He embodies everything that Chelsea stands for, being relentless, humble and a warrior at the same time. I'm happy to have him."
Lydia Bedford takes Brentford Under-18s reins in landmark appointment for women
Lydia Bedford has been announced as Brentford Under-18s head coach in a landmark appointment.
Bedford has left her position as assistant boss with Arsenal’s women team to become the first female coach to take the reins at a men’s professional side in England.
The former Leicester manager is set to work alongside Jon-Paul Pittman, who will join as assistant coach from Forest Green.
Brentford director of football Phil Giles said: “I’m really pleased that we’ve managed to attract such talented coaches as Lydia and Jon-Paul to our under-18 team for next year.
“We undertook an extensive recruitment process for these roles. Lydia and Jon-Paul were the two best candidates, and thankfully we were able to finalise their recruitment to the staff.
“I’m sure they will excel, and we all look forward to working with them through pre-season and beyond.”
Kyogo Furuhashi ‘bullish’ about making Scottish Cup final – Ange Postecoglou
Celtic striker Kyogo Furuhashi is “bullish” about his chances of making the Scottish Cup final despite not training so far this week.
The Japan international went off with a leg knock during last Saturday’s 5-0 win over Aberdeen after coming off worse in a 50-50 with Dons goalkeeper Kelle Roos.
The 28-year-old has scored 33 goals this season and won a clean sweep of Scotland’s player of the year awards, and he has an impressive record in cup finals, with match-winning doubles in the League Cup in each of his two seasons with Celtic.
Boss Ange Postecoglou said: “Kyogo is progressing. He hasn’t trained yet. The plan is to get him out there tomorrow (Friday) and see how he goes. He is doing some individual stuff this afternoon.
“He always is, but he is still pretty bullish about playing so we will just see how he goes.
“We will be guided by him a little bit. We have done that in the past. He has had a couple of times, whether it’s with his shoulder or in last year’s League Cup final he went in with a hamstring that wasn’t totally healed and scored a couple of goals.
“So I will be guided by him. He is very strong mentally so if he gives us the green light we will put him in there.”
The only definite absentee is Australia midfielder Aaron Mooy, who has been nursing a back problem in recent weeks.
Postecoglou said: “(Alistair) Johnston is fine, he has trained all week and (Sead) Haksabanovic is back in so he is available as well. The only real absence is Aaron Mooy.”
UEFA awaits reports following Jose Mourinho’s rant at referee Anthony Taylor
UEFA is awaiting the match official’s reports before deciding whether to take action against Jose Mourinho for his rant at referee Anthony Taylor after Roma’s Europa League final defeat, the PA news agency understands.
Roma boss Mourinho was critical of Taylor in his post-match press conference after his side’s penalty shoot-out defeat to Sevilla in Budapest on Wednesday night.
And in video footage which later emerged on social media, the former Chelsea and Manchester United manager is seen gesticulating at Taylor and officials in the stadium car park and heard saying “disgrace”.
Taylor booked Mourinho during the game, which finished 1-1 after extra time before Sevilla sealed their seventh Europa League triumph by winning 4-1 in a penalty shoot-out.
Tempers simmered on and off the pitch in a disappointing final, with 13 players shown yellow cards, seven of them to Roma players, while fourth official Michael Oliver had his work cut out to keep control of both dug-outs.
The game was littered with delays, with a total of 25 minutes’ stoppage time added to the 120 minutes of playing time.
Mourinho lost for the first time in his sixth major European final, while Sevilla extended their record number of tournament wins following previous successes in 2006, 2007, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2020.
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