‘Doubt’… Mauricio Pochettino shares £50m Chelsea player may not start against Aston Villa

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Mauricio Pochettino has provided a fitness update on Chelsea’s Ben Chilwell ahead of tomorrow’s match against Aston Villa.

Chelsea host Aston Villa at Stamford Bridge on Friday night in the fourth round of the FA Cup.

The Blues should be in good spirits after thrashing Middlesbrough earlier this week to qualify for the Carabao Cup final.

Ben Chilwell, who’s had more injury problems this season, actually made his first start since September in the Middlesbrough semi-final victory.

Apparently, the £50 million defender (Sky Sports) could be back on the bench against Villa.

Speaking in today’s pre-match press conference, Pochettino admitted that Chilwell does require a late fitness check before Friday’s cup tie.

“We have doubt to start with him tomorrow because we’re assessing him [to see] if he can cope with another game after three days,” Pochettino said via Chelsea’s official YouTube channel.

“That is a massive decision because what we want is to build his confidence, his fitness and be consistent enough to play the rest of the season. We don’t want to go back. That is why we’re working really hard with the medical staff and performance areas to take the best decision. If he can not start tomorrow, he’s going to be on the bench and see if he can help the team in the second-half.”

Ben Chilwell a doubt against Aston Villa

The worst thing Chelsea could do is overdo it with Chilwell as he makes his comeback from another injury, so urging on the side of caution tomorrow seems the sensible move.

It’s a no-brainer for the Blues to start the England international at left-back when he’s 100 per cent fit. We got another example earlier in the week of how much better the starting XI looks with him.

The 27-year-old full-back was fantastic for 65 minutes against Boro before exiting the pitch. Speaking via talkSPORT this week, Stuart Pearce hailed the “very athletic” Chilwell following his excellent display.

However, Chelsea are going to be in a much better place if they carefully manage his return and keep him injury-free for the rest of the season.