Chelsea head coach Thomas Tuchel has revealed that Antonio Rudiger will sit out Saturday's Premier League fixture at Brentford with a back injury.
The Germany international has been an ever-present in Premier League and Champions League games this season, the only Blues player to take on such a workload.
However, having sustained a back issue while on international duty, Tuchel says that the centre-back will join Thiago Silva and Christian Pulisic on the sidelines.
Silva represented Brazil during the early hours of Friday morning, while Pulisic has been absent for a number of weeks with an ankle injury.
Speaking to reporters at his pre-match press conference, Tuchel said: "Thiago will be back in the afternoon tomorrow, hopefully safe from this match in Brazil. We had our talk and tactical training, he missed all that. He played 90 minutes and had 12 hours of travelling so that gives you the answer.
"Toni Rudiger is injured, came back injured from the national team. Christian Pulisic is still injured."
Tuchel also revealed that Hakim Ziyech is also a major doubt after suffering with headaches during the middle part of the week.
Darren Plant
