Thomas Tuchel admits Mateo Kovacic ankle injury 'does not look good'

Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel admitted that Mateo Kovacic’s ankle injury ‘does not look good’ after the midfielder limped out of the FA Cup semi-final win over Crystal Palace on Sunday.

The 27-year-old lasted just 26 minutes at Wembley before being replaced by Ruben Loftus-Cheek, who went on to score Chelsea’s first goal in a 2-0 win.

While the loss of the Croatian did not bother the Blues against the Eagles, they will be very concerned if he is set for a spell on the sidelines, which could be the case.

Tuchel could not give too many details at the early stage immediately after the match, but did say that the injury ‘does not look good’ for his central midfielder.

‘Not so good,’ Tuchel told Chelsea TV of Kovacic. ‘He has a big, big swollen ankle. It does not look good, and he is in pain.

‘So let’s wait for the examination but it seems like quite an injury.’

Chelsea do not appear to have a great deal left to play for in the league, other than hanging onto third place, which they look well set to do.

Although they do have tricky games coming up against Arsenal, West Ham and Manchester United.

Their remaining big match this season was set up on Sunday thanks to the win over Palace, with Chelsea now facing Liverpool in teh FA Cup final on 13 May.

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