Big blow: 21-year-old Chelsea star 'set' to miss out on crucial FA Cup game against Manchester City

Chelsea defender Levi Colwill is losing his battle to be fit for the crucial FA Cup semi-final against Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City this weekend. 

The 21-year-old has not played since the 2-2 draw against Brentford at the GTech Community stadium, having picked what was diagnosed as a metatarsophalangeal joint ligament injury. 

Colwill was expected to be out for a couple of weeks but he’s since not been able to return. There had been reports that he was pushing to be involved this weekend but the Athletic is reporting that Colwill has not been successful in his attempt to meet his target of a swift come-back and is set to miss the game.

In his eagerness to play, the England international was wearing a protective boot in training to help the healing and prevent a possible setback. However, the ultimate target of being available for the game might come too soon for him with matches against Arsenal and Aston Villa after the FA Cup being more realistic.

He was one of the top players when Chelsea played out an entertaining 1-1 draw against Manchester City at the Etihad. Ironically, that day he played alongside Axel Disasi who also missed the game against Everton on Monday night. 

The French defender is however expected to return to the starting lineup after training all week. Ben Chilwell who played the last 10 minutes against the Toffees is also pushing for a start at Wembley. 

Manchester City lost Real Madrid in the Champions League in midweek after a draining 120 minutes of action so it remains to be seen if Chelsea can take advantage of that and secure a ticket to the final of this season’s FA Cup.