Maurizio Sarri Admits Chelsea Are 'in Trouble' as Yet Another First Teamer Joins Injury List

Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri has admitted that his team could be in a spot of bother as they face a growing injury list during one of the most congested

Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri has admitted that his team could be in a spot of bother as they face a growing injury list during one of the most congested periods of the season.

Giroud limped off in the 76th minute of Chelsea's 1-0 win over Crystal Palace on Sunday, leaving the out of form Alvaro Morata as their only fit striker for Tuesday's home match against Southampton.

Sarri is likely to deploy Eden Hazard as a centre forward again, as he has often done in recent weeks. The Belgian scored twice from that position against Watford on Boxing Day.

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"The problem is his ankle," Sarri said of Giroud, quoted by the Evening Standard. "I don’t know the severity at the moment. We have to wait for tomorrow. Later in the evening I will see the doctor for the first result."

Giroud left Selhurst Park on crutches and he will undergo further tests on Monday to determine the severity of his injury.

Sarri also finds himself short of options in midfield, as he was unable to name Cesc Fabregas or Ruben Loftus-Cheek on the bench against Palace.

"In the last two days I think we were a bit unlucky," said the Italian "Yesterday in 10 minutes we had three injuries, Fabregas, Loftus-Cheek and [Danny] Drinkwater. Today Giroud. Then we were without Pedro and [Callum] Hudson-Odoi. Now we are in trouble because in January we have to play every three days."

Chelsea face four games in eleven days, with an FA Cup tie against Nottingham Forest, an Carabao Cup semi final against Tottenham and a Premier League match against Newcastle coming up.