Forgotten Chelsea star spotted before Newcastle clash to gift Pochettino exactly what he wants

Mauricio Pochettino has been handed a huge injury boost ahead of Chelsea's Premier League clash against Newcastle. The Blues have been plagued by injuries throughout the 2023/24 season with as many as 12 players potentially absent for tonight's clash at Stamford Bridge.

Reece James, Wesley Fofana and Christopher Nkunku have all missed long periods of the season with Pochettino admitting two new stars have joined the injury list. «I think you all know now that we have added to the list of injured players; Levi Colwill and Chilly, Chilwell,» he admitted in a press conference. «On Saturday, Gallagher has not trained because he has a virus. That is the news from the medical.»

Every area of the pitch has been affected by injuries with Chelsea in eleventh and unlikely to reach the European qualification spots. While a number of key players have missed some action over the last few months, Moises Caicedo, Conor Gallagher and Enzo Fernandez have featured consistently.

While the trio have impressed, fatigue clearly set in last weekend during the draw against Brentford, with that clash coming after an intense FA Cup clash against Leeds United and defeat the previous weekend to Liverpool in the Carabao Cup final. For the fixture against the Bees,Pochettino deployed a back three with his reasoning for the tactical tweak based on the midfield.

“It was to provide the team a different way to play,” Pochettino explained. “We needed to provide the midfield the possibility not to cover too much distance. I think Enzo, Caicedo and Gallagher had to start but were really, really tired.”

“A player like [Romeo] Lavia is supposed to challenge Moises, but they are injured and we don’t have the possibility to refresh in a key area." With Pochettino