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Chelsea defender Ben Chilwell has suffered a \u201cbad\u201d hamstring injury with no timescale yet put on his return, says Blues boss Mauricio Pochettino.<\/p>\n
Chilwell has had a scan on the injury that forced him off late on against\u00a0Brighton in the EFL Cup\u00a0on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Chelsea are already without Reece James until after the international break with a thigh problem.<\/p>\n
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\u201cWhen they\u2019re at their best, they are the best full-backs in the world,\u201d said Pochettino.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt all clubs, important players are missed when they don\u2019t play.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf the question is \u2018do we miss them?\u2019 Of course. Reece is a top player and [Chilwell] also.\u201d<\/p>\n
Chilwell missed three months last season with a hamstring problem, limiting him to just 23 Premier League appearances. James meanwhile played just 16 times in the league because of knee, thigh and hamstring problems.<\/p>\n
Marc Cucurella, Levi Colwill and Axel Disasi are the contenders to play at full-back in Monday\u2019s Premier League trip to Fulham, but Pochettino says no-one in his squad can fully replicate what his first-choice full-back pairing brings.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll teams when they miss important players are affected [in their] performance,\u201d added the former Tottenham manager.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy did we not sign another Ben Chilwell and another Reece James? Because there\u2019s only one Reece James and one Ben Chilwell.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you have in the squad one top player in one position, it\u2019s difficult to bring in another one in the same position to sit on the bench. It\u2019s about balance.\u201d<\/p>\n
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