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Conspicuously absent from even the bench the last two games, and despite Jose Mourinho's claims that the squad is injury free, Ramires has revealed on his Instagram account that he's been battling a thigh injury.
"Very sad for not having played the last two games because of a thigh muscle pain that is being very persistent and we don't wanna make it worse. But I am very happy to have seen up close our great victory over Tottenham! I hope to get better as soon as possible to get back on the field and help my teammates! Come on Chelsea!!!!"
Thus reads the caption on the sad picture taken from his seat next to the suspended Diego Costa just behind the Chelsea bench. Best seats in the house if you're a fan. Worst seats in the house if you're a player looking to play and be injury-free.
The obvious concern at this point after Nemanja Matić picked up his fifth booking of the domestic season is making sure that Ramires is ready to go on Saturday against Newcastle United. While I personally would switch the team around to go with three in the middle (Ramires - Mikel - Fàbregas) and thus deploy the two Matić replacements in their ideal position -- yes, Matic needs two people to replace him -- I could easily see Mourinho going with just one of the replacements alongside Cesc in a two-man combination.
I guess we'll see. Either way, get well soon, Ramires!