REECE JAMES will spend the next month wearing a knee brace — wrecking his World Cup dream.
But Chelsea boss Graham Potter defended the decision to let the England star take an extended break before starting treatment on the injury which has effectively ended his hopes of playing in Qatar.
Reece James suffered an injury in the 2-0 win over AC Milan
James is now set to spend eight weeks on the sidelines
The right-back was allowed to stay on in Milan last Wednesday following a 2-0 Champions League victory on Tuesday — and he then flew home on a budget airline instead of Chelsea’s private jet.
Potter said: “Nothing has got worse because of how we acted in those times.
“Now we have to support him and get him strong.
“In terms of his involvement in the World Cup, I don’t know — it will depend on how he recovers.
“He will give everything, I’m sure he will. But he is in a brace for four weeks and that slows everything down.
“The boys had a couple of days free and — especially with the international players — it’s important to give them a break when you can.
“Reece then felt a bit of discomfort the following day, came home, and we got it assessed as quickly as we could.
“He’s naturally disappointed, upset because he’s injured.”
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England manager Gareth Southgate watched Chelsea beat Aston Villa 2-0 in James’ absence but will be frustrated that one of his best players is out of the tournament.
England’s first World Cup game is against Iran on November 21 — barely a week after James is due to have his knee brace removed.
It was initially suspected he had jarred his leg when he was subbed off against AC Milan — but it was diagnosed as knee-ligament damage.
James, 22, remains bullish and refuses to give up on playing at the World Cup and Potter has vowed to support his stricken star.
Potter said: “It wouldn’t be my place to predict what’s going to happen. He will be in a brace for four weeks.
“That’s all I know, that has implications in terms of what he needs to do to get fit.”
England are short of right-backs now, with Manchester City’s Kyle Walker recovering from surgery and Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold going through a poor patch of form.
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