Chelsea suffer fresh Reece James injury blow as hamstring problem is confirmed ahead of West Ham

Chelsea captain Reece James is in a battle to be fit for the game against West Ham after picking up a hamstring injury against Liverpool over the weekend.

The newly appointed Chelsea captain was substituted 70 minutes in the game over the weekend but manager Pochettino revealed he was only tired and his substitution was pre-planned.

The 51-year-old manager told the press after the Liverpool game: “He was tired. You need to see from where he came. The first thing we did when we arrived was to assess and analyse all of the players from the past. He was injured for three or four months.

“This pre-season was tough for him, we didn’t want to take any risk and that is why at 80 minutes, we wanted to avoid the risk.”

However, contrasting reports from sources say the defender hasn't trained fully with the first team ahead of their second Premier League game of the season against West Ham on Sunday.

Chelsea signed Malo Gusto from Lyon as cover due to James’ injury record as he missed the end of last season due to a similar problem. Before that, he also missed the World Cup for his country due to a knee injury and has been battling to rediscover the form that made him one of the best players in the World.

On the transfer front, Chelsea are looking to confirm the signing of Romeo Lavia from Southampton after agreeing on a fee in the region of £55million for the 19-year-old Belgian midfielder.