Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel admits his side are missing the impact of midfielder Matteo Kovacic.

The Croatian is absent with a hamstring problem that he sustained in training last week.

While Tuchel is happy to have most players available for their Champions League semi final first leg against Real Madrid on Tuesday, he says being without Kovacic for the game is a blow to his tactical plan.

"We closed the gap very early when it clearly was not in our hands so we closed it early because the other teams didn't have the results when we had the results," he told reporters, per Goal.com.

"Since last week, it was in our own hands because we arrived in fourth and we took advantage against West Ham in this direct duel which is very significant. It is always a huge win to win like this. For me, it is not over yet.

"At the moment, we are suffering a bit without Kovacic in our two No.6s [setup]. Hopefully, he can come back against Fulham.

"He has not trained with the team yet so I think Tuesday will be too early, unfortunately, because he was so happy to play against his former team-mates. He was crucial again for us and he could have helped us a lot against Brighton and West Ham.

"He has technique, ball runs and his dribbling. It is like this and the team is doing an amazing job. We have to keep on going and it is far from over."