Chelsea suffer double injury blow as Thomas Tuchel confirms Romelu Lukaku absence

Chelsea suffered a double blow during their comfortable 4-0 win over Malmo in the Champions League on Wednesday. The Blues lost £98 million striker Romelu Lukaku and Timo Werner to injury before half-time with the manager Thomas Tuchel confirming that they will be out for at least "some matches".

The Stamford Bridge outfit are expected to be without the duo for their upcoming matches, with the first one being against Premier League bottom feeders Norwich City. Chelsea face a run of five games in the next 17 days, but they will not come up against any team in the top half of the league.

Lukaku suffered an ankle injury after a tough tackle from Malmo centre back Lasse Nielsen, while Werner pulled up off the ball with a hamstring injury. Their injuries, however, did not destabilise Chelsea as they went on to secure a comfortable win to put behind their loss to Juventus in the previous Champions League match day.

Tuchel confirmed that the injuries to his forward players were more than superficial with both players expected to sit out a few matches. Callum Hudson Odoi and Kai Havertz played as the Blues' makeshift forward line and combined well for Chelsea's third against Malmo.

"Romelu twisted his ankle with the foul in the box and Timo has a hamstring injury. It will take a while for both of them. We need more examinations to be more precise but they will be out for some matches," Tuchel said after the game, as quoted on Sky Sports.

The German manager had suggested that Lukaku was suffering from mental fatigue prior to the game, but refused to accept that it was the reason for his striker suffering the injury on Wednesday night. Lukaku has not scored in his last seven games, which remains a cause for concern after the striker started the campaign in fine fashion scoring three goals in as many games in the Premier League.

"It's not a muscle injury or because of physical fatigue. He is a little bit overplayed, this is my opinion and maybe I'm not even right. But this was a moment to give him confidence and let him play. I don't regret it, things like this can happen. It was bad luck," the Chelsea manager added.