Chelsea injuries to Romelu Lukaku, Timo Werner offer chance for squad players

Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel has urged his squad players to “prove a point” by solving the club’s striker crisis after Romelu Lukaku and Timo Werner were injured in Wednesday’s comfortable 4-0 Champions League win over Malmo.

A routine victory courtesy of Andreas Christensen’s first goal for the club and two Jorginho penalties either side of substitute Kai Havertz’s sublime third was marred as Lukaku limped off with an ankle injury after 23 minutes.

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Lukaku sustained the damage in a poor tackle by Lasse Nielsen which earned the Blues their first spot-kick before Werner followed his strike-partner a minute before half-time with a hamstring problem.

Both players will be assessed at the club’s Cobham training base on Thursday, but Tuchel admitted the pair will be sidelined for “some games,” leaving Chelsea without a senior recognised striker for Saturday’s Premier League home match against Norwich at the very least.

“Maybe I know not much more than you do,” Tuchel told reporters after the game at Stamford Bridge.

“Romelu twisted hie ankle in 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 precise but they will be out for some matches.”

Germany midfielder Havertz played as a central striker in the second half — combining well with Werner’s replacement Callum Hudson-Odoi for only his second Chelsea goal since scoring in last season’s Champions League Final and Tuchel said: “It is always a chance [for others] and always necessary to prove a point. We will have some games without Romelu and Timo now.

“Everybody is invited to join the race for minutes on the pitch and when they are on the pitch, they need to show the hunger and determination to be decisive, to be in the box and this is how it is.

“They [Havertz and Hudson-Odoi] did today and there is still room to improve. We need the same hunger and determination from whomever starts. We want…