Mauricio Pochettino has made an honest admission about Chelsea’s injury struggles this season. The Blues are currently preparing to face Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League on Thursday night.
Chelsea are ninth in the top-flight standings and still have ambitions of qualifying for Europe across the final weeks of the campaign. Pochettino’s side will be without 13 players due to injury for the clash against Spurs at Stamford Bridge.
Thiago Silva and Axel Disasi are the latest players to be added to the injury list, and it’s a situation that the Blues have often found themselves in throughout the campaign. Enzo Fernandez, Reece James, Ben Chilwell, Christopher Nkunku, Levi Colwill, Raheem Sterling, Malo Gusto, Robert Sanchez, Carney Chukwuemeka, Romeo Lavia and Wesley Fofana are also unavailable for the game against Spurs.
And now Pochettino has responded to criticisms that have been directed at the Blues medical department this season. He has admitted that ‘improvement’ is needed at the club when it comes to injuries to players.
The Chelsea boss did offer his praise for the medical staff at Stamford Bridge this season and offered a potential explanation for the number of injuries sustained in the squad this term. He said: “I need to be honest, all I can say is that it is a new process, a new institute, we can do better, of course.
“We all feel responsibility. Then it is circumstances that happen, and it is difficult to explain with sentences.
“We are working on trying to improve. We have amazing medical staff, performance area coaching staff – we all have experience in this business.”
Chelsea go into Thursday’s clash against Tottenham on the back of a 2-2 draw with Aston Villa. Noni Madueke and Conor Gallagher scored the goals that earned a point for the Blues at Villa Park, as the quest to secure European football continues ahead of the busy run-in.
