Roma defender Bruno Peres to miss Chelsea clash with thigh tear

Roma defender Bruno Peres has been ruled out of his side's crucial Champions League group stage clash with Chelsea on Tuesday [31 October] after suffering a thigh tear during his side's 1-0 win over Bologna on the weekend.

Peres was withdrawn with 20 minutes of the clash against Roberto Donadoni's men on Saturday [28 October] and underwent tests to determine the severity of the injury on Monday [30 October]. Results showed that the tear was not too serious, but the Brazilian will be out of action for up to a fortnight and will certainly play no part against the Premier League champions, who currently top Group C with seven points to second-placed Roma's five.

A brief statement on Roma's website read: "On Monday morning Bruno Peres underwent medical examinations which revealed evidence of a Grade I muscular tear in the right thigh. He has already begun the recovery process.

Peres' injury has left Roma boss Eusebio Di Fransesco with a major problem in the full-back positions. Right-back Rick Karsdorp tore his anterior cruciate ligament on his debut against Crotone last week, while left-back Emerson Palmieri is still working his way back to full fitness after suffering the same injury in May.

Aleksandar Kolarov and Juan Jesus are both capable of playing at left-back, but the injuries to Karsdorp and Peres leave Roma light in the right-back position. The versatile Alessandro Florenzi will most likely fill in for the injured duo, though the Italy international has only recently returned from an anterior cruciate ligament tear himself. Young forward Patrik Schick will also miss the clash against Chelsea - the talented Czech has been struggling with hamstring problems in recent months.

The Italian giants have not had the best of luck with injuries over the last couple of weeks, but Chelsea are nearing an end to their fitness crisis. Midfielder Danny Drinkwater recently made his return from a calf strain that had ruled him out for over six weeks, while his former N'Golo Kante could well feature against the Giallorossi after recovering from a hamstring problem. The game at the Stadio Olimpico will likely come too soon for full-back Victor Moses, who like Kante has been struggling with a hamstring injury.