Chelsea hero Pat Nevin believes they're discovering how important N'Golo Kante is to their prospects.

Kante enjoyed a stellar first season in west London after joining Chelsea from Leicester.

And he started the current campaign in reasonable form before being struck down by a thigh problem on France duty.

Nevin said: "N'Golo's quality is irreplaceable by any single player right now.

"His energy certainly became even more obvious in its absence at Selhurst Park; let's hope he is as superhuman at recovery as he is at dominating midfields around the country.

"It is actually quite hard to imagine him injured as he seems so robust when he makes those midfield tackles against all the odds but still emerges with the ball time and again."