Chelsea boss Sonia Bompastor has explained why Lauren James missed the Blues’ Women’s Champions League clash with FC Twente.

The England international forward was initially named in Bompastor’s starting XI, but was replaced by Johanna Rytting Kaneryd before a ball was kicked in anger. An untimely injury prevented James from figuring in elite European competition.

Bompastor has revealed the nature of that ailment, telling reporters when asked for an update on James: "In the last moment of the warm-up she felt something in her foot. At the moment it’s too early for me to say something else about LJ. We will have to assess her in London and see how she feels."

Despite being without Lionesses star James, Chelsea claimed a 3-1 win over Twente courtesy of goals from Aggie Beever-Jones, Maika Hamano and Guro Reiten. Bompastor said of being able to shuffle her pack and take advantage of squad depth: "I’m really happy with the first half. We started the game strongly. We were efficient being able to score really quickly. We saw some good movement from the players. For me, we just got the three points which is really important. We are top now which is the main goal.

"Also, we had the opportunity to rotate and manage some players. Some players could rest in preparation for the game on Sunday. It just shows how much quality there is in the group, and also how much I trust everyone in the group. Some of them were able to start and play 90 minutes in the Champions League. It’s good to have the quality in the group to make sure we can rotate and play every single game with a lot of competition."

Reigning WSL champions Chelsea – who have been faultless through three domestic fixtures this season, picking up nine points and scoring 10 goals – will be back in action on Sunday when playing host to London neighbours Tottenham.