England Under-21s boss Lee Carsley has confirmed Jamie Gittens will head back to Chelsea for tests after sustaining an ankle injury on international duty.

Gittens is one of the 14 Chelsea players currently away on international duty. Along with Chelsea teammate Josh Acheampong, the 22-year-old was called up to the England Under-21s squad for the three European Under-21 Championship qualifiers against Kazakhstan, Slovakia, and Ireland. 

Unfortunately, Gittens is set to miss the final two qualifying games.

The Chelsea winger made the starting line-up as the Young Lions hosted Kazakhstan at Molineux on Friday. He looked lively early on as England looked to level after Kazakhstan’s early goal just three minutes in.

The hosts finally drew level in the 26th minute and even took the lead thanks to Acheampong’s brilliant low shot, but Gittens was forced off with an injury not long after, in the 39th minute, and was replaced by former Blues teammate Tyrique George.

England Under-21s ended up winning the game 4-2, giving them a six-point lead in Group D, but it also marked the end of Gittens’ involvement in the group stage.

Young Lions head coach Carsley said he did not want to take risks and decided to send the winger back to his club for assessment.

“Jamie got a kick on his ankle. We never take any risks,” Carsley said after the game.

“With the age of these players, we don’t ever keep them in camp to see how they are. He will go back.”

Gittens was also spotted leaving the stadium on crutches, though it might have been him being cautious with the injury.

That said, even if it was a minor injury, the timing is still a big blow for the young winger, given that the international break would likely have given him the minutes he desperately needed.

He has played only 55 minutes of football for Chelsea so far this season across two Carabao Cup appearances. The arrival of Morgan Rogers from Aston Villa this summer has certainly played a role in Gittens’ struggle for minutes at Chelsea, as has Xabi Alonso’s preferred 3-4-2-1 system.

Fellow Chelsea wingers, Estevao Willian and Geovany Quenda, are in the same boat, but at least they can still look forward to the next few international games.

Estevao started in Brazil’s 1-1 draw with Australia on Friday, while Quenda started for Portugal Under-21s in their 2-1 defeat to Bulgaria. 

The former is likely to feature in Brazil’s next two friendlies against Australia and India, while the latter will face Gibraltar and Czechia in the European Under-21 Championship qualifiers for Portugal Under-21s.

Another Chelsea player who reportedly sustained a fresh injury on international duty is Mike Penders. However, while the young goalkeeper missed Belgium's 2-0 win over Italy on Friday, he reportedly stayed at the national team training centre, which likely suggests a minor injury.