Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino has given an injury update on Christopher Nkunku.
Christopher Nkunku missed Chelsea‘s 4-0 win against Preston North End in the FA Cup yesterday, and Mauricio Pochettino explained what the problem is and what the club now plan to do.
The Argentine was speaking in his post-match press conference, with football.london sharing his quotes.
Pochettino had initially planned for Nkunku to be on the bench, but this latest injury prevented that.
It is a blow for the forward, who has missed most of the season so far because of a previous knee problem.
Mauricio Pochettino gives Christopher Nkunku injury update
Pochettino says Nkunku missed the Preston game because of a hip injury and the club now need to see if he will be ready for their next few fixtures.
Speaking after the win against Ryan Lowe’s side, the Chelsea boss said: “When we talk about the case of Nkunku, we don’t want to put pressure on him. We know it is difficult after a long time injured. Six months away is always tough.
“Like now he wasn’t involved because he suffered after training yesterday a problem in his hip and we need to see if he can be ready for the next few games. That is the problem.”
Christopher Nkunku injury a big blow for Chelsea
The last thing Pochettino needed was one of his star forwards getting injured.
With Nicolas Jackson heading to the Africa Cup of Nations, Chelsea were already light up front.
Nkunku is obviously not a natural centre-forward, but he was an option for Pochettino, especially with Jackson away. But it now looks like the Frenchman could miss some games for the Blues.
If so, there is going to be a lot of pressure on Armando Broja, though he showed everyone what he is capable of yesterday.
The 22-year-old scored a fantastic header after a brilliant ball into the box from Malo Gusto to put Chelsea 1-0 up. Preston, of course, are not the strongest opposition out there, but it is now one goal in one game for Broja since Jackson’s departure to the Ivory Coast.
It will give the Albania international a massive boost in confidence and hopefully he can build on it.
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