Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino has hinted that he has been unable to hand a few of his first team squad the rest he would ideally like to at this stage of the season.
He told ITV Football that both Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo are being forced to play continuously because he does not feel he has players available that he can rotate them with.
Both Caicedo and Fernandez picked up assists last night as the Blues scraped past Leeds United 3-2 in the FA Cup.
The victory at Stamford Bridge booked their place in the quarter-finals, where they will face Leicester City for a place at Wembley again.
It was a game where they needed their big players to step up, and both central midfielders did just that, with them being the two most expensive players on the pitch.
Pochettino hinted though that he would be keen to hand the duo a rest at some point, however he doesn’t feel as if he has the options available to do so.
Pochettino can’t rest Caicedo or Fernandez
He said: “I think we are shorter, a little bit, in the squad. Because we have a big squad, but at the minute there are 10/12 always injured players, and look, Enzo and Moi Caicedo, they are playing and playing and playing.
“We don’t have players that we can sub and give them rest. I know that it was maybe a surprise with the changes, but it was because we needed to give rest.”
It is likely the manager would ideally be wanting to turn to the likes of Romeo Lavia, however he is expected to be out for another few weeks.
The comments are likely to be another blow from the Argentine to the academy, whose players have seen appearances hard to come by throughout this season.
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