Chelsea striker Liam Delap will be sidelined until December after sustaining a hamstring injury against Fulham before the international break.
Delap was replaced just 14 minutes into the 2-0 victory over the Cottagers and manager Enzo Maresca said he will be unavailable for 10 to 12 weeks.
The 22-year-old joined the Blues from Ipswich for £30m in June and has featured in all three games this season.
Chelsea recalled striker Marc Guiu from a loan spell at Sunderland the day after Delap picked up the injury to provide cover amid uncertainty over Nicolas Jackson, who joined Bayern Munich for £70.5m the following day.
Joao Pedro also joined the west London club from Brighton earlier in the summer and is likely to be Maresca’s preferred option to lead the line.
“For us, the only number nine is [Marc] Guiu and Joao [Pedro] can play there, and against Fulham we used Ty [George],” Maresca said.
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