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Chelsea star says he was not ‘in best condition’ after heroic display vs Leeds

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Chelsea midfielder Jorginho said he was not in his best physical condition but “pushed” himself to help the team secure the important 3-2 win over Leeds United on Saturday.

Because of the extensive injury problems, Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel has had some problems rotating his teams in the last few months.

In midfield, in particular, he has had to rely on Jorginho amid N’Golo Kante and Mateo Kovacic’s absences.

Tuchel’s decision to deploy Jorginho amid his fitness problem certainly paid off after the dramatic win over Leeds.

The midfielder scored twice from the spot, including the winning goal.

It is still slightly worrying, though, that Jorginho is actually suffering from the back problem.

Chelsea v Leeds United - Premier League
Photo by James Gill – Danehouse/Getty Images

“My back is not in the best condition, but [sometimes] you need to push yourself more to help the team,” the Italy international said in his post-match interview (via BBC).

“That’s what I needed to do. It’s hard, but I pushed to help my team.

“It was very important to have these three points. We had a tough game, Leeds are a tough opponent but we deserved the win. The last-minute goal was just amazing. The whole stadium felt so good.

“We can always give more. If you gave an extra 10% today we can improve again. We always need to want to improve to do more.”

Chelsea v Leeds United - Premier League
Photo by Chris Lee – Chelsea FC/Chelsea FC via Getty Images

On a more positive note, Tuchel previously confirmed that Kante is likely going to return to team training on Tuesday, along with Trevoh Chalobah.

Ideally, Jorginho will have recovered by the time Chelsea play Everton on Thursday and be able to play alongside Kante in midfield.

As it stands, The Blues remain third in the Premier League table since both Manchester City and Liverpool also won their respective match.

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