Chelsea's N'Golo Kante is unavailable for Saturday's Premier League game against Southampton, as the midfielder continues his isolation following a positive COVID test, but the good news is his physical condition is okay, Thomas Tuchel has confirmed.
Near the start of the pandemic, Kante had concerns over the virus which led to him being granted compassionate leave from some training sessions in May 2020, prior to the resumption of matches the following month in which he was involved.
"N'Golo has symptoms but not a lot of symptoms, so he's okay," Tuchel said as per chelseafc.com.
"I don't want to go into more details. He's okay. He's doing well. He was concerned about it [in the past], and he did everything not to get it. Unfortunately, he tested positive but we care about him, like we care about every player. We're in touch with him every single day. The doctors are in touch with him and he has our advice and our support, and he is in a good way."
The Blues will take on Southampton at Stamford Bridge in the Premier League, as they look to bounce back with a win. On paper this is third place versus 16th, but it has been a testing week for Chelsea, with the unwelcome binary of back-to-back 1-0 losses hampering progress at home and abroad.
However, many of the season's toughest challenges are now out of the way and the Londoners are still in the hunt on all fronts. Elsewhere this weekend Manchester City make the trip along the M62 to Liverpool, and one or both has to drop points.
( With inputs from ANI )
Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor