Mauricio Pochettino has defined why Christopher Nkunku was not named in Chelsea’s squad for Saturday’s 4-0 FA Cup victory over Preston.
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Nkunku was considerably of a shock omission having featured for the Blues of their final 4 fixtures.
The west Londoners spent £52m to deliver the 26-year-old to Stamford Bridge this summer time however followers had been left ready till December for him to make his debut.
That’s as a result of the previous RB Leipzig star had been struggling with damage issues and it appears like he may very well be already set for one more spell on the sidelines.
‘Nkunku, we don’t need to put stress on him,’ Pochettino mentioned after the win in opposition to Preston.
‘We all know it’s tough after a very long time injured. Six months away [and] now he wasn’t concerned as a result of he suffered an issue in his hip in coaching.
‘Se must see if he could be prepared for the subsequent few video games.’
Quizzed about how onerous it’s to get gamers like Nkunku again to full health after lengthy spells of damage, Pochettino added: ‘The circumstances are actually powerful.
‘They should play to get to their finest and we can not present this recreation time to gamers that must go and really feel competitors as a result of we have to win.
‘Typically it’s actually powerful to clarify to the gamers who really feel the stress to carry out and to play. Typically it’s tough to clarify however for those who perceive soccer you realise how powerful it’s.’
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