Mauricio Pochettino is hoping to continue welcoming back Chelsea players for the end of the season as his team now chase qualification for the Europa League. The Blues have put it almost entirely in their own hands to secure some form of European football despite months of mid-table struggles.
A run of «two-and-a-half games» of «beautiful football» against Aston Villa, Tottenham, and West Ham, has left the club on the brink of meeting minimum expectations from the owners. Just weeks on from being demolished 5-0 at the hands of Arsenal and Pochettino's future at the club being widely questioned, things are looking up for the boss.
He went from being without 14 players for the 2-0 win over Spurs just over a week ago to naming some long-term absentees in the squad against West Ham on Saturday. The 5-0 victory at Stamford Bridge coupled with Manchester United's 4-0 defeat to Crystal Palacehas left them in a strong position to get into Europe.
Now, ahead of a trip to relegation-threatened Forest, Pochettino has more good news. «We need to assess today some players that maybe can be involved tomorrow in the game,»he explained on Friday at Cobham. «But yes, happy because it's true that we are in the last week and we are going to be in the last week of the season with nearly all of the players fit and available. It's good to see the future and be more optimistic.»
As well as Axel Disasi, Malo Gusto, and Raheem Sterling all returning to the bench against the Hammers, Levi Colwill and Christopher Nkunku were named in the squad for the first time in over two months. Gusto, Nkunku, and Disasi all got onto the pitch as well.
Whether any of those will be deemed as fit to play at the City Ground is another question though. Chelsea have
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