James Maddison was forced of the pitch 50 minutes into Tottenham Hotspur's trip to Stamford Bridge to face Chelsea on Saturday evening, as he suffers yet another injury

Roberto De Zerbi has explained that James Maddison will undergo further examinations on Sunday, as he was forced off the pitch through injury during Tottenham Hotspur's 2-0 win over Chelsea on Saturday evening.

The 29-year-old was selected to start for the first time in 18 months for the Premier League clash at Stamford Bridge, having missed the entirety of last season through an ACL injury.

However, in a cruel turn of events, the Englishman lasted a little over a halfway through Saturday's match before he was once again blighted by injury.

Maddison was spotted squatting during a lull in the action around 49 minutes into the match, surrounded by team-mates before medical staff rushed onto the pitch to provide treatment.

Conor Gallagher was brought on in his place, with the hearts of Spurs fans sinking as Maddison trudged off and straight down the tunnel for further treatment.

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Now, De Zerbi has issued an update on the Coventry-born talent. Speaking during his post match interview on Sky Sports, the Italian said: "Who loves football loves James Madison. He's a special player.

"I said in the dressing room in front of everybody, James let me know the problem because we need you. We need you on the pitch, we need you everywhere because it's too important for us."

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Speaking in his post-match press conference, meanwhile, he added: "Not very important problem I hope. We need to make the medical check tomorrow.

"I hope it's not a big problem because he's a special player for us. We need him."

Following a closely-contested 75 minutes of play, Chelsea debutant Mike Penders broke the deadlock between the two sides by punching the ball into the back of his own net.

Mateus Fernandes put a whipped corner kick on top of the goalkeeper, who got his angles wrong as he tried to clear the danger - the ball bundling toward his goal rather than away before crossing the line.

Matters went from bad to worse for the Blues less than five minutes later, when Cole Palmer picked up a second yellow card, and ultimately, a red for a late challenge on Gallagher on the edge of his own area.

Mathys Tel, meanwhile, put the game to bed with less than five minutes left to play. The Belgian caught Josh Acheampong in possession in the middle of the park, driving at Chelsea's defence with pace.

Having dribbled around Maxence Lacroix on the edge of the area, Tel hit the ball hard and low to Penders' right before wheeling off in celebration.

Maddison returned to the pitch at full-time to celebrate with team-mates and thank the travelling Spurs fans in a positive turn of events.