Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel has said he is not sure about the injury status of Moroccan winger Hakim Ziyech who has been in and out of the Blues squad.

Tuchel spoke about Ziyech in a pre-match interview for Chelsea’s meeting with Aston Villa on Sunday evening.

“With Hakim, I’m not sure right now about his status,” the German coach told Chelsea website.

“He got a kick that was very painful and I don’t know whether he will be fit for Aston Villa yet. We will need to see because there has not been a lot of time between games.”

After winning the Premier League game 3-1, Tuchel justified the exclusion of the Moroccan saying: “Ziyech had only one training session.”

Ziyech has established himself as a scorer of important goals for Chelsea under Tuchel.

The midfielder joined Chelsea from Ajax Amsterdam last season.

He is not part of Morocco squad that is heading to the Africa Cup of Nations finals in Cameroon.