Mauricio Pochettino has ruled two more players out of Chelsea’s Premier League clash with Tottenham.
Chelsea have been without several first-team stars in recent weeks, with the likes of Enzo Fernandez, Reece James, Raheem Sterling and Ben Chilwell sidelined with injury issues.
Speaking at his pre-Spurs press conference, Pochettino said he had ‘no good news’ on the injury front and confirmed Thiago Silva and Axel Disasi would also miss the Stamford Bridge clash on Thursday night.
Asked for an update on his squad, Pochettino said: ‘No good news because we cannot recall any players from the last [injury] list. And we need to add two more – Disasi and Thiago, they are not available for tomorrow.’
Pressed on why Chelsea have been affected by so many injuries this season, Pochettino added: ‘I need to be honest, what I can say is we have a new process.
‘There are things we can do better, of course. But there are many circumstances so it’s difficult to explain with one word or one sentence.
‘We have amazing medical staff who have a lot of experience in this business. We need to be better next season and improve. But I think the quality is here, this happens sometimes.’
Chelsea play host to Pochettino’s former club Tottenham sitting ninth in the Premier League, while Spurs still have Champions League aspirations in fifth.
Ange Postecoglou will also be without a few key players against Chelsea, confirming on Wednesday that Timo Werner and Ben Davies will miss the remainder of the season.
Tottenham, who suffered a 3-2 north London derby defeat to Arsenal on Sunday, are seven points behind fourth-placed Aston Villa ahead of the trip to Stamford Bridge, but have two games in hand over Unai Emery’s side.
Chelsea beat Spurs 4-1 in the reverse fixture earlier in the season and Pochettino said it was ‘special’ to return to his former club, where he was managed for five years between 2014 and 2019.
‘It was special when we played there [in the reverse fixture in November]. It was my first time since leaving the club, but now it is a different time,’ the Argentine said.
‘It will be emotional coming up against people who I worked with for a long period. I can’t hide my emotion for the club. I think it is going to be emotional because facing a former team, where the history was good, you remember that
‘But I have said before – across the 90 minutes we want to win and Tottenham are going to come here to try and win. It will be a good game.’
