Chelsea at logger-heads with Nottingham Forest over defender Sam Hutchinson's fitness

Sam Hutchinson is currently on loan at Nottingham Forest from Chelsea, but has missed almost three months of the season through injury.

Chelsea are suspected of mishandling the players injury.

The versatile defender was sent back to Chelsea in September for an injection in his left knee and was told he would be back playing in a fortnight, but Hutchinson has been unavailable for 15 games and is not expected to feature in Forest’s plans until the end of the year.

The 23 year-old retired in August 2010 after receiving a recurring knee injury before returning 18 months later. He returned after seeing a significant improvement in his knee, and made 2 senior appearances in last seasons Premier League, before moving on loan to Nottingham Forest on a season-long loan in the summer.

Hutchinson said: “It has been an incredibly frustrating time for me. I went back to Chelsea and had an injection which they thought would clear up over the October international break but it has taken a lot longer.

“I know people were probably looking at my situation and thinking that I’d broken down again, that my old knee injury was playing up again but that wasn’t the case.

“This lay-off wasn’t caused by an injury but by an injection that was quite intrusive and although it will have long-term benefits in the short-term it has proved problematic, which is not what I needed as I was desperate to play games.”

Sam Hutchinson is expected to have a big influence in the future, if he can stay fit. He was due to be captain of the England U-19 side for the 2008 UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship, before sustaining his knee injury.

I fear he may not get another Chelsea contract, but I believe he will play Premier League football in the future, injury permitting.