Reece James may fully recover, but he will still miss the start of next season due to suspension.

Chelsea’s captain received a straight red card in the 2-1 victory at the Amex Stadium against Brighton for kicking Joao Pedro.

Just 19 minutes after coming on as a substitute, the right-back, who has only made nine Premier League appearances this season, was sent off. The 24-year-old defender reacted angrily to a clash with Pedro, then kicked the Brighton player from the ground.

Referee Michael Salisbury was called to the pitchside monitor following a VAR intervention, where he issued a straight red card to James. The Chelsea star had previously received a red card in the 4-1 defeat to Newcastle earlier in the season, so he will now miss four matches.

This means the defender will miss the final Premier League game of the season against Bournemouth on Sunday and the first three matches of next season.

Reece James is banned from playing until next season.

m playing until next season.James’ reckless moment threatened to cost Chelsea all their points in the match against Brighton. At the time he was sent off, Chelsea was leading 2-0 and entering stoppage time, but then Danny Welbeck scored late to narrow the gap.

The Seagulls couldn’t find an equalizer with the little time remaining, and The Blues have now surpassed Newcastle to climb to sixth place in the standings. They could finish in fifth place if they beat Bournemouth on Sunday and Tottenham lose away to Sheffield United.