Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino has provided a mixed injury update ahead of the Premier League clash against Aston Villa on Saturday evening.
Pochettino faces a selection headache as he attempts to engineer a response after the humiliating 5-0 thrashing at the hands of Arsenal in the London derby.
The crushing defeat at the Emirates Stadium was a bitter pill to swallow for Chelsea, derailing their European aspirations and leaving a dark cloud over their recent form.
Pochettino will be demanding a strong reaction from his players at Villa Park.
Ahead of the game, the Argentine manager has provided an injury update on five players, including Cole Palmer, who was absent in the London derby defeat.
Pochettino revealed that Palmer has returned to first-team training after shaking off an illness, but Levi Colwill, Raheem Sterling, Carney Chukwuemeka, and captain Reece James remain sidelined.
He told Chelseafc.com: “Cole has trained well in the past two days. We assume he will be ready for tomorrow’s game and be part of the squad.”
There was positive news on James and Colwill, who participated in partial team training this week.
They are close, and yesterday they were doing partial training with the squad,” said Pochettino. “But they are not available [for the game against Villa].”
On Chukwuemeka and Sterling, Pochettino added: “Sterling suffered pain in his lower back, and Carney felt something in his knee related to his problem before.
“We hope it’s not a big issue and he can be back as soon as possible.”
The defeat against Arsenal would have destroyed the morale in the dressing room, but Chelsea are still in with a chance of finishing in the top six this season.
They sit ninth in the table, six points behind sixth-placed Manchester United with a game in hand. A victory against Villa on Saturday would be a massive boost for their prospects.
However, anything but will pile the pressure on Pochettino, who is already under intense scrutiny from the Chelsea faithful following the derby defeat.
