Chelsea injury blow: Liam Rosenior confirms major blow ahead of Arsenal EFL Cup semi-final

Chelsea head coach Liam Rosenior has revealed that Jamie Gittens will be unavailable to face Arsenal on Tuesday night.

The Blues head into the second leg of their EFL Cup semi-final against the Gunners trailing by a 3-2 deficit.

However, Rosenior is likely to be short of wide options for the game at the Emirates Stadium with Estevao Willian expected to miss the fixture due to personal reasons.

Rosenior has now acknowledged that Gittens will not be able to feature courtesy of the injury that he sustained against West Ham United on Saturday.

Gittens was withdrawn after 26 minutes of the game with the Hammers with a hamstring issue.

© Imago / News Images

Rosenior says 'he wanted to start' Gittens

Speaking to reporters at a press conference on Monday, Rosenior suggested that the 21-year-old had been in his thoughts for a start.

He said: "Jamie [Gittens] unfortunately felt his hamstring. I don't know the extent of the injury.

"It's a real shame for him because I wanted to give him a start and I wanted him to show what he could do. Hopefully it's not too bad."

While Gittens has been used on five occasions since Rosenior's arrival at the start of January, he has struggled for minutes.

Aside from featuring for 66 minutes in Rosenior's first game at Charlton Athletic in the FA Cup, the England Under-21 international has not played for more than 31 minutes in any of his other four outings.

© Imago / Sports Press Photo

Why Chelsea are struggling for attacking options ahead of Arsenal game

As well as Gittens being sidelined and Estevao having all but ruled out by Rosenior, Cole Palmer is also unlikely to start the game.

Palmer played the full 90 minutes against West Ham, just days after Rosenior conceded that he cannot afford to over-use the playmaker due to his recent injury record.

With Enzo Fernandez having completed 90 minutes in the last four matches in all competitions, it is not a foregone conclusion that the Argentina international plays as a number 10.

Chelsea's remaining attacking options are Pedro Neto, Alejandro Garnacho, Joao Pedro, Liam Delap and Marc Guiu.

That is assuming that Tyrique George finalises a loan move to Everton before the close of business on Monday.