Thomas Tuchel Delivers Romelu Lukaku Fitness Update Ahead of Watford Clash

Chelsea travel to Vicarage Road on Wednesday night and have several injury issues with up to six players potentially being out. Ben Chilwell, N'Golo Kante and Mateo Kovacic have been ruled out, while Reece James, Jorginho and Timo Werner are all doubts. 

It could see Lukaku start for the first time in six weeks, but Tuchel won't rush the Belgium international back. 

"With Romelu it is pretty easy. He came on and he continued to train. There is no reaction from his injured ankle so he stayed in training and is ready to progress in minutes," said Tuchel in his pre-match press conference.

He added: "It is easy to work with him when he is injured because he is pushing every single day, pushing everybody to be out on the pitch again. He tries to push the coaches to convince us that he is ready to start. If it was up to him he would have started against Leicester when he was not even in the group.

“He is a big guy and a big guy with an ankle injury. My opinion is that it needs a bit of time because he puts a lot of weight on his ankle and is turning and for acceleration and deceleration this is a crucial part of these movements. We have given him some minutes and that helps him psychologically.

"He is happy, he smiles every day. He is determined and trains at a very high level. Once we are happy that he is fully free and ready to go and contribute, which is a lot. We still believe he can make a difference for us. At the same time, we will be patient.”

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