When Mauricio Pochettino saw his side under the cosh last night against Manchester United, he will have been safe in the knowledge that there was not a great deal to come from his bench.
Lesley Ugochukwu and Noni Madueke made it 10 names on the injured list again for the Blues, and not a lot to look to past the starting 11.
Reece James was brought on at half-time, and although he struggled at times at the back he created a number of great chances with his devastating crossing.
It looked as if the manager was going to give Ian Maatsen a rare appearance midway through the second half, perhaps with his versatility being key to his decision.
However, as the Dutchman was getting ready to make his way onto the pitch, Scott McTominay scored his second goal of the day to cancel out the brilliant strike from Cole Palmer in the first half.
When the camera panned back to the 21-year-old, he was putting his bib back on and returning to the bench, cutting an irritated figure.
Maatsen should be angry at Pochettino
He remained unused for the rest of the game, surely leaving him absolutely with the situation he has found himself in.
A bid was accepted for his services on deadline day of the summer transfer window by the Blues, however the player decided to not go through with any approach in an attempt to fight for minutes.
He was off the back of a really strong pre-season, where he emerged as one of the manager’s top players during the tour.
With him surely heading out the door in January, it feels like Chelsea have let one of their academy graduates down, and he will surely be counting down the days until he can play regular football again.
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