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As Mateo Kovacic hobbled off the Stamford Bridge pitch it was impossible not to think of the implications for Sunday's Carabao Cup final against Liverpool.

The Croatian midfielder has been Chelsea's standout player this season and to see him substituted just six minutes into the second period against Lille was certainly concerning. Particularly given the role Kovacic played in the previous game against Jurgen Klopp's men.

Thomas Tuchel did not seem so much concerned about the severity of the injury as much as the tactical implication of delaying the move, which is partly reassuring.

He told BT Sport: "I don't know. I should have substituted Kova at half-time so we could have saved one more change. I did not speak to the doctor yet with Hakim, I hope it is not too much.

"It is the story of the season, we do substitutes because of injuries. Today is Tuesday, there are a lot of days to recover until Sunday.

"We will take care to be ready on Sunday. We don't like that much injuries and would like impact from the bench in a tactical manner, we hope the guys will be ready for Sunday."

However, to see Ruben Loftus-Cheek enter the field was an illuminating moment.

The midfielder only returned from an Achilles issue against Crystal Palace at the weekend with a 15 minute outing.