‘Felt his Achilles’: Pochettino confirms he had to sub 24-year-old Chelsea player off due to injury last night

Add as preferred source on Google

Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino has confirmed he was forced to substitute defender Trevoh Chalobah last night due to injury.

He told Ben Jacobs that this was the reason Marc Cucurella was allowed to re-enter the field of play despite already being substituted off.

Not only was Chalobah handed a start last night against Wrexham, but he was given the honour of captaining Chelsea for the very first time.

The Spaniard and himself were the experienced members of the starting back four, which also contained Malo Gusto and Bashir Humphreys.

As the Blues went on to win 5-0, it looked on paper as if it was good news everywhere you looked. However, Pochettino confirmed he was forced to replace the 24-year-old due to an Achilles problem.

Chalobah injury

He said: “Chalobah felt his Achilles and we wanted to play with 11 rather than ten. That was it.”

An injury at centre-back would be devastating for the Blues at this stage, with them already looking a little light in the area.

Earlier this week, it was confirmed that Wesley Fofana would miss the majority of the season due to an ACL injury he had suffered.

The news was more bad luck for the Frenchman, who has not had the opportunity to prove his worth to Chelsea fans since his big-money move last summer.

There had been talk before Fofana’s troubles that Chalobah may be sold this summer, due to the path to the first team being blocked by other options at the club.

However, given the fact he was handed the armband last night and the limited senior options the Blues have available, it could turn into a big season for him if he is not injured himself.