Chile v Uruguay: Visitors to prepare for Suarez absence

​Uruguay will be without talisman Luis Suarez for their trip to Chile on Tuesday after the forward returned to Barcelona.

Suarez played the full 90 minutes and scored in his country’s 3-3 draw with Costa Rica last Thursday, but will not feature in Santiago as he continues to regain full fitness following his four-month ban for biting.

While the loss of their all-time record goalscorer is undoubtedly a blow for Uruguay, his return to Spain does at least give coach Oscar Tabarez the opportunity to look at alternatives ahead of next year’s Copa America.

Suarez will miss the tournament as part of his sanction for biting, and Uruguay defender Diego Godin has called on his team-mates to use next week’s friendly against the Copa America hosts as an opportunity to get used to life without the former Liverpool man.

“We all know what Luis means to us,” said Godin. “But we know we won’t have him at the Copa America, so it’s good to look for alternatives to get used to playing without him.”

While Uruguay were held by Costa Rica last week, Chile head into the contest on the back of a comprehensive 5-0 victory over Venezuela.

Jorge Sampaoli’s side are undefeated since their heartbreaking penalty shootout loss to Brazil in the last 16 of the World Cup and, in the shape of Alexis Sanchez, possess one of world football’s most in-form forwards.

Sampaoli expects a much tougher test on Tuesday, though, and believes Copa America holders Uruguay will prove typically tough to beat.

“Uruguay will always be hard,” he said. “It will be valuable, because it will be different, but very tough rivals.

“What I want as a coach is to get Chile to return to play with the same selection who played at the World Cup.

“An aggressive, competitive Chile, who knows that in the Copa America we will face rivals who are not going to forgive mistakes.”

Chile won the most recent meeting between the nations, beating Uruguay 2-0 in Santiago in a World Cup qualifier last March.