Chelsea star Cole Palmer will be out for "six more weeks" with a groin injury, says head coach Enzo Maresca.
It had been hoped Palmer would return to action after the October international break but the England forward, who has played in only four games this season, is set for a longer spell on the sidelines than anticipated.
The 23-year-old aggravated a groin injury during Chelsea's loss at Manchester United in September.
"I was wrong. Unfortunately, he has to be out probably six more weeks. This is the update," Maresca said in his press conference ahead of Saturday's Premier League clash with Nottingham Forest.
"We are trying just to protect Cole as much as we can and the most important thing is that when he comes back, he is fully fit."
Palmer first picked up the problem during the warm-up for their Premier League encounter with West Ham United in August.
In his absence, Chelsea have made a stuttering start to their campaign, picking up 11 points from their opening seven league games, while they've won one and lost one in the Champions League.
Having beaten Liverpool last time out prior to the international break, Chelsea had hoped Palmer's possible imminent return would help kickstart their season.
When asked whether they'd got to the bottom of what was causing the issue, Maresca added: "Yes, but the medical staff are not magicians. You never know that.
"You probably need six weeks. We hope that six weeks is enough, but it's a problem we need to see step-by-step, week after week. But, for sure, he is going to be OK.
"He looks very good. He looks relaxed. He is trying to recover from the injury. He is doing all the therapy he needs to do. He looks good."
With the fixture congestion now piling up, Chelsea's injury list is growing at just the wrong time, with concerns also about Moises Caicedo, Enzo Fernandes and Joao Pedro.
"Unfortunately, Benoit (Badiashile) will be out until December," said Maresca. "He has a muscle problem. He was doing fantastic, he showed how good he is, he showed how we need him and we're going to wait for him.
"Then we have Moi, Enzo, Pedro who didn't take part in the session [on Thursday] and we will see if they can train [on Friday], otherwise they are going to be out.
"We have Levi (Colwill), Liam (Delap) who are still out. Reece (James) is fully fit."
With league games against Forest, Sunderland, Tottenham and Wolves to come before the next international break, Chelsea will hope Palmer's absence won't prove too costly as they look to climb up the table.
- Oct 18: Nottingham Forest (a) - Premier League, 12.30pm
- Oct 22: Ajax (h) - Champions League, 8pm
- Oct 25: Sunderland (h) - Premier League, 3pm
- Oct 29: Wolves (a) - Carabao Cup, 7.45pm - live on Sky Sports
- Nov 1: Tottenham (a) - Premier League, 5.30pm - live on Sky Sports
- Nov 5: Qarabag (a) - Champions League, 8pm
- Nov 8: Wolves (h) - Premier League, 8pm - live on Sky Sports
- Nov 22: Burnley (a) - Premier League, 12.30pm
- Nov 25: Barcelona (h) - Champions League, 8pm
- Nov 30: Arsenal (h) - Premier League, 4.30pm - live on Sky Sports
