Mauricio Pochettino confirms £52m Chelsea player will be on the bench tomorrow vs Preston

Add as preferred source on Google

Christopher Nkunku will only be fit enough for Chelsea’s bench tomorrow in the cup tie against Championship club Preston.

Chelsea host Preston on Saturday evening in an FA Cup third-round match at Stamford Bridge. Incidentally, the 5:30 kick-off will be available to watch for supporters via BBC iPlayer.

The Blues are once again going through a very tough spell in the Premier League this season, but the domestic cup competitions are a chance to rediscover a feel-good factor. In fairness, Mauricio Pochettino’s side have already made it through to the Carabao Cup semi-final, so would love another deep run in the FA Cup.

Chelsea head coach Pochettino has shared in today’s pre-match press conference that Christopher Nkunku won’t be in the starting XI vs Preston.

The £52million attacker (Sky Sports) has only stared one of his four games since returning from an injury that made him miss the first half of the season.

Now, the 26-year-old suffered a minor issue this week in training, which is why he’ll only be on the bench at the weekend.

“What I’m going to tell you is Christoph (Nkunku) is not going to start tomorrow because he suffered some issues during the week. He’s going to be in the squad but he’s not going to start. We need to be careful with him,” Pochettino said via Chelsea’s official YouTube account.

Christopher Nkunku is on the bench against Preston

The last thing we want to see is Nkunku pick up a new injury enforced by rushing him back too soon.

It’s incredibly tough for the fanbase waiting for the French attacker to get fully fit, but it seems like the club are getting it right and acting sensibly.

Speaking via talkSPORT recently, Jason Cundy said that Nkunku got “really tired” on his first Chelsea start against Crystal Palace.

He was devastating at former club RB Leipzig as a goalscorer and elite performer, but we may not see that at Stamford Bridge yet for a while. Let’s remember he’s adapting in a new country after a long period out through injury.