James Maddison's injury woes return, forced off for Tottenham vs. Chelsea

James Maddison was forced off with an injury in the second half of Tottenham Hotspur's win against Chelsea, on his just his second league start after nine months out with a ruptured ACL.

The midfielder has endured a torrid 18 months or so with injury, making his first start for Spurs in 526 days earlier this week against Coventry, an occasion he marked with a goal.

But in his second start on the bounce, Maddison was unable to continue and replaced by Conor Gallagher in 50th minute of the contest.

"I think it is not a very important problem," Tottenham coach Roberto De Zerbi said later in his post-match news conference.

"We need to do the medical checks tomorrow, after tomorrow I don't know. I hope it is not a big problem because he is a special player for us. We need him."

Spurs went on to take all three points in the contest with a Mike Penders own goal and a fine late finish from Mathys Tel giving them their second league win of the campaign.

Prior to this weekend, De Zerbi spoke with trepidation surrounding Maddison.

"In the first three days [after the Coventry game] Maddison didn't work with us. I don't know if he's ready for tomorrow," De Zerbi told a news conference.

"I don't want to take risks because if you analyse this period of football you can see many injuries, not just for Tottenham."

ESPN's James Olley contributed to this report.