Antonio Conte says David Luiz’s continued absence from Chelsea’s team stems solely from inflammation off a knee, a “serious” injury from which no return date has been set.

The timing of the injury has been unfortunate, sustained after cracks had emerged in his relationship with the management. Conte was unimpressed with the defender’s stroppy reaction to being substituted in the home game against Roma in mid-October and his performance in the return at the Stadio Olimpico. The 30-year-old was left out of the match-day squad for the win over Manchester United, before succumbing to the knee complaint at the end of last month.

Doubts have been cast on the legitimacy of the injury amid suggestions the player feels he is fit and ready, with Conte’s patience tested over an issue that has become a distraction. “I understand that someone thinks I’m not telling the truth,” he said. “I’m disappointed about this but I can understand it. I’d rather tell you a bad truth rather than a good lie. I could call in the doctor and get him to explain the medical situation of all my players, so that I can avoid having to answer this question, and this atmosphere of: ‘It’s not true what he’s telling us.’

“David has a big inflammation in his knee, and we are trying to solve the situation with the doctor. It’s important to assess the situation day by day, and to try to solve this problem. I don’t know when he’ll be able to come back but with the doctor and the medical department we are trying to solve this situation. The player is working apart [from the group]. I saw him on the pitch, trying to run a bit. But very, very slowly. This is a serious problem but we hope to solve this problem as soon as possible.”

David Luiz, who rejoined Chelsea from Paris Saint-Germain in the summer of 2016, played a key role in last season’s title success but has made only one appearance since the defeat in Rome. Conte, who will welcome back Álvaro Morata to his squad for Saturday’s visit of Southampton, suggested the defender’s frustration was born of being injured rather than losing his place to the 21-year-old Andreas Christensen, who has been outstanding.

“Every player is frustrated when he doesn’t play, especially when you have an injury,” he said. “For sure, there is a lot of frustration for the injury. Every player wants to enjoy the training session, to try to put the coach in difficulty with his choices. I understand because I was a player.”