Mauricio Pochettino has provided injury updates on Reece James, Robert Sanchez and Marc Cucurella after Chelsea’s defeat to Everton.
All three players were forced off during the 2-0 defeat at Goodison Park, with captain James hobbling off in the first half before Sanchez and Cucurella were both replaced in the final ten minutes of the game.
The injuries add to an already long list of absentees for the Blues. Wesley Fofana, Romeo Lavia, Christopher Nkunku and Ben Chilwell are among the other ten first-team players currently out of action.
Here’s what Pochettino said about James, Sanchez and Curucrella’s injuries in his post-match press conference.
Mauricio Pochettino on Reece James injury
“Reece felt something in his hamstring. For sure he’s injured, but we don’t know how serious it is,
“Of course for us he is an important player, one of the best full-backs in the world. It is really disappointing because after 15 or 20 minutes we were playing well and I think this type of circumstance makes us change, because of course Malo Gusto is recovering from his injury.
“We hadn’t given away many chances and then you need to move things to make some changes. Even when Reece went off the team was pushing and playing well.
“But we are disappointed because when you believe you can build something and a player like him who should be really important for us can’t help the team. We go back and assess again in the next few days what is going on with his hamstring.”
Mauricio Pochettino on Robert Sanchez injury
“Robert Sanchez suffered a problem at Manchester United, it was an issue with his knee. He felt something during the second half, that is why he asked for the change. We must hope it is not a big issue.”
Mauricio Pochettino on Marc Cucurella injury
“That is the same [as Sanchez] for Marc Cucurella, who twisted his ankle. We hope that these issues are not big.
“These are the circumstances we have been dealing with since the start and it is too much for a young team that needs to have all the elements together if we want to build something solid.”