Chelseas Jorginho set to face Leeds despite back issue

Jorginho will play through the pain of a back problem to ease Chelsea’s midfield injury issues in Saturday’s Premier League clash with Leeds.

Mateo Kovacic continues isolation after testing positive for Covid-19, while N’Golo Kante could make a tentative return to training next week after knee trouble but will not feature at Stamford Bridge this weekend.

Trevoh Chalobah (hamstring) and Ben Chilwell (knee) will also be missing.

Leeds boss Marcelo Bielsa is facing up to an injury crisis of his own after losing three players in last week’s draw with Brentford.

Kalvin Phillips, Liam Cooper and Patrick Bamford all sustained hamstring injuries in the fixture and are expected to be sidelined for a number of weeks.

Rodrigo is also expected to be absent with a heel injury, while Robin Koch will not be rushed back from the pelvic issue which has ruled him out since September.

Chelsea provisional squad: Mendy, Arrizabalaga, Silva, Rudiger, Christensen, Sarr, Azpilicueta, James, Alonso, Hudson-Odoi, Jorginho, Loftus-Cheek, Niguez, Barkley, Havertz, Mount, Ziyech, Pulisic, Werner, Lukaku.

Leeds provisional squad: Meslier, Llorente, Dallas, Ayling, Firpo, Struijk, Forshaw, Klich, Harrison, Raphinha, James, Gelhardt, Roberts, Klaesson, Cresswell, McCarron, Jenkins, Drameh, Greenwood.