The 21-year-old winger has not featured for the Blues since the end of January after suffering a hamstring injury in our 3-2 victory over West Ham United in the Premier League.

Gittens, who joined Chelsea last summer from Borussia Dortmund, was close to a return to action last month, but had his comeback delayed until after the recent international break.

The England Under-21 international trained with the Blues in the build-up to today's clash with Port Vale  – which we won 7-0 to advance into the FA Cup semi-finals – but was not included in the match-day squad.

That is because, as Rosenior explained, Gittens suffered a setback in training yesterday (Friday) that will prolong his time on the sidelines.

'Unfortunately, Jamie, in training yesterday, picked up what looks like a hamstring injury again,' explained our head coach.

'We have to scan him and make sure. It's a real shame for him; I think it's the third time it's happened. We need to help him and we need to make sure he's okay. I can't give you a time frame on that at the moment.'