Kovacic will miss first leg of Chelsea's UCL semi-final against Real Madrid

Mateo Kovacic will miss the first leg of Chelsea's Champions League semi-final against former club Real Madrid on Tuesday through injury.

The midfielder has missed the Blues' last three matches with a hamstring problem and it had been hoped that he could return against Los Blancos.

However, Thomas Tuchel dashed those hopes prior to his team's crucial trip to West Ham.

'Mateo Kovacic is still out, but the rest are available. I think we can hope he will make the game against Fulham (on May 1), between the games against (Real) Madrid, but that is not certain,' admitted Tuchel.

'For him to play against Madrid I do not think it is possible, but Fulham is a realistic goal for him.'

Kovacic sustained the injury in training prior to Chelsea's Champions League quarter-final second leg against Porto as the west London outfit squeaked through after losing on the night in Seville.

The 26-year-old spent the 2018-19 season on loan at Stamford Bridge after being out and in out of the team starting XI under Zinedine Zidane and made the switch permanent in the summer of 2019 after winning LaLiga in 2017 as well as the Champions League in three successive seasons during his three years in the Spanish capital.

Kovacic has made 137 appearances for Chelsea in all competitions since the start of his initial loan move and has started 14 of Tuchel's first 17 games before his injury, appearing in all but one of those matches.