Extent of Eden Hazard injury revealed

Eden Hazard injury: Belgium manager Roberto Martinez has revealed the extent of the injury to Eden Hazard.

This will rule him out for the international break at-least. The Eden Hazard injury will mean Belgium will have to cope without him for the games against Greece and Russia. While Hazard could be a doubt for Chelsea’s game against Crystal Palace with a fortnight of recovery expected.

The 26-year-old suffered a calf injury in a training session just before the 2-1 Chelsea clash against Stoke.

The Belgian winger has been in fine form this season for Chelsea and could be on his way to winning the PFA player of the year award.

But, he will miss both of Belgium’s international games and could miss out on Chelsea’s game against Crystal Palace on April 1st.

This will be a blow to Chelsea if he does miss out on the fixture.

Martinez said it was a blow to lose him but thought that they could cope without him.

"‘He has been in Belgium but not with the group, and we are working with Chelsea to get the best treatment,’‘It is a big problem to lose Hazard, it is obvious that we wanted to have him, but it will be a good test for us without him.’"

Although Chelsea coped without him against Stoke, Chelsea could struggle to beat Crystal Palace especially given that Palace have kept three clean sheets in a row.

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This will mean that Willian and Pedro will both get starts again while Diego Costa will have to lead the line without the help of Hazard.

Hazard draws a lot of defenders towards him when he plays which gives more space to the other attacking players.

Palace have done well defensively ever since they signed Mamadou Sakho in the January Transfer window. The ex Liverpool defender is playing superbly and has helped Sam Allardyce’s men keep goals out.

The injury set-back is a concern for Chelsea as he tends to lose form every time he gets a minor injury. Chelsea have to be careful not to play him if he’s still struggling.

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Hazard played throughout last season with a niggling hip and groin injury pestering him. This, along with Chelsea’s side in form meant that Hazard struggled to make an impact. It’s important that Hazard is given ample time to rest and recover so he can come back strong again.