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Thomas Tuchel has confirmed that Chelsea star Reece James suffered a setback in his rehabilitation from his hamstring injury but is hopeful the defender can return to team training next week.

James suffered the injury in December's clash with Brighton where he was forced off in the first half after a challenge from Yves Bissouma, which left him moving gingerly before he signalled to the bench.

There was hope the 22-year-old would return in time for Chelsea's Club World Cup campaign in Abu Dhabi but a bout of flu delivered a setback that prevented him rejoining first team training and had a knock on effect.

James still made the trip out to the UAE and received a medal as Chelsea won the competition, alongside Ben Chilwell.

Tuchel lamented the wing-back's absence but was hopeful that he could rejoin the group in the coming days.

The Blues boss said: "It's too long for Reece, we miss him a lot.

"I had the feeling from the start that we have to deal with a big injury. Unfortunately my feeling is right.

"We had a little bit of a setback because he caught the flu in a moment he was very close to rejoining team training. This was a setback.

"Like always, you have a risk with a very physical player like Reece is,