Jesse Derry rushed to hospital as injury update issued after sickening Chelsea incident

Chelsea academy talent Jesse Derry was taken to hospital for precautionary checks following a sickening clash of heads with Nottingham Forest's Zach Abbott. The teenager, making his Premier League debut, needed oxygen after an ugly collision shortly before half-time. Derry was stretchered off at Stamford Bridge after the match was suspended for over 10 minutes.

Sky Sports confirmed early into the second half that Derry, who did not sit up during the stoppage in play, had been taken to Chelsea and Westminster Hospital for further treatment. Chelsea then said in a statement post-match: "Jesse Derry has been taken to hospital as a precaution following his first-half substitution during today’s #PL game against Nottingham Forest. Jesse is conscious, talking and undergoing precautionary checks. We wish him a speedy recovery and thank the medical staff for their swift response."

Caretaker manager Calum McFarlane added: "We're hearing positive signs from Jesse Derry and Rob Sanchez. Pleased for Jesse's performance, but there are probably more important things right now."

Moments after Sky Sports' update, Forest increased their lead to 3-0 with Taiwo Awoniyi's second goal of the game. But there was another worrying clash of heads on the hour mark between goalkeeper Robert Sanchez and Forest midfielder Morgan Gibbs-White.

Sanchez rose to his feet and was treated for a cut to his head but was still replaced by Filip Jorgensen after being left bloodied. Gibbs-White also sat up and had his head heavily bandaged before walking off to be replaced by Chris Wood, having only entered the pitch himself at half-time.

Derry, 18, was meanwhile making his first-ever Premier League start for the Blues. He and Abbott violently collided heads and both were replaced, by Liam Delap and Neco Williams respectively.

Referee Anthony Taylor awarded Chelsea a penalty after Abbott failed to win an aerial ball and only collided with the side of Derry's head. But Cole Palmer saw his penalty saved by Matz Sels.

Awoniyi and Igor Jesus, from the penalty spot, had earlier put Forest 2-0 up inside just 15 minutes. Awoniyi secured his brace in the 52nd minute as Forest massively increased their chances of avoiding relegation to the Championship with a big three points.

Chelsea thought they'd scored their first league goal since March 4 when Joao Pedro headed in a rebound in the 72nd minute but after a VAR check, the goal was ruled out for offside. Yet Joao Pedro finally ended the Londoners' nine-and-a-half-hour goal drought with a stunning overhead kick consolation in the 93rd minute.

The Blues still lost 3-1 and the goalscoring Brazilian admitted post-match: "We conceded too early and then it's always difficult to change the game against Nottingham Forest. We need to find a way to not make these mistakes every game and to start to win games.

"Everyone needs to look at themselves. Me included. We need to find a way to do better. I feel sorry for the fans and I think tomorrow we need to see where we can improve."