Chelsea optimistic Álvaro Morata injury is not as severe as Spain fear

• Morata withdrew from the Spain qualifiers against Albania and Israel
• But striker targets return against Crystal Palace

Chelsea’s medical department intend to conduct their own scans on Álvaro Morata’s hamstring injury later this week, but are hopeful their diagnosis will reveal the damage is not as extensive as that suggested in tests undertaken by the Spanish Football Federation over the weekend.

Morata withdrew from the Spain squad for the World Cup qualifiers against Albania and Israel after pulling up in Saturday’s Premier League defeat to Manchester City complaining of discomfort in his left thigh. Chelsea initially substituted him as a precaution, hoping they had averted a serious injury, but the forward travelled to Madrid the following day and underwent an MRI scan at the city’s Sanitas University hospital of La Moraleja which apparently revealed a grade two myofascial injury to his hamstring muscles.

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