Chelsea boss Guus Hiddink will be forced into a reshuffle for this weekend’s FA Cup quarter-final clash with Everton at Goodison Park.
Both Diego Costa and Eden Hazard were forced off with injury concerns during Wednesday night’s Champions League defeat to PSG, with the Blues crashing out of the competition 4-2 on aggregate.
With the FA Cup now their only realistic target for silverware this season, the Dutch tactician will be disappointed to be forced into fielding a weakened side.
Costa was taken off with 30 minutes remaining while Hazard followed shortly after with both men seemingly struggling with muscular injuries.
Hiddink confirmed that the duo will be assessed by the medical staff on Thursday, with a decision likely to swiftly follow on whether or not they will be able to feature on Merseyside on Saturday.
“We’ll see if there is big damage tomorrow,” Hiddink told reporters after the game, as noted by Sky Sports. “Diego was desperate to play today although he was not 100 per cent fit.
“I don’t know it’s worse, we’ll see tomorrow. In two days we have to play another game.”
Chelsea will hope to progress in the competition despite the absence of the key duo, although they will also be desperate to continue their improvement in the league.
Having now moved up to 10th place, 10 points adrift of the fourth and final spot to have a chance to qualify for the Champions League, Hiddink won’t be giving up on that target either with nine games remaining in the campaign.
However, he will hope that his fringe players are able to step in and give a good account of themselves when they take on Roberto Martinez’s side this weekend.