Chelsea manager Graham Potter said “fantastic team player” Conor Gallagher would be rightly frustrated with his limited game time this season.
Gallagher has made 32 appearances for Chelsea in all competitions this season but more than half of them (20) were as a substitute.
Since the goalless draw with Fulham in early February, the 23-year-old has not made the starting line-up for Chelsea.
However, it is also clear that Potter clearly rates the versatile midfielder, who featured in the last four games from the bench.
Potter even said he’d understand if Gallagher was not happy with his current role in the team.
“We used Kova and Enzo in midfield, so it was just a tactical decision there,” the Chelsea manager said in his post-match press conference on Saturday when speaking about his team selection.
“Then the front three was Joao (Felix), Kai (Havertz) and Christian Pulisic because of a profile of player, a bit more like dribblers, so I went for Christian in that role [on the left of the front three].
“Conor has been really unlucky because whenever he comes on he does really well.
“He’ll be frustrated and rightly so. But we think the world of him and he’s a fantastic team player.”
Potter has recently been using Gallagher as an extra man in midfield when Chelsea’s two-man midfielder is under pressure.
This comes at the expense of an attacker, but it worked in their wins over Leeds United, Borussia Dortmund, and Leicester City.
It was not as effective against Everton on Saturday, likely because Sean Dyche’s men never planned to play through the midfield and went more direct, instead.
Unfortunately for Gallagher, as long as the 3-4-3 remains the main formation at Chelsea, he is unlikely to be a starter anytime soon.
He does not seem comfortable enough playing in a double pivot, while up front, Potter simply has plenty of natural wingers and forwards at his disposal.
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