Mauricio Pochettino surprised Ben Chilwell started England games after injury
Mauricio Pochettino admitted he was surprised Ben Chilwell started two games for England during the international break, having only recently returned from a knee injury.
The defender last started for Chelsea on March 2 against Brentford and since then has played just a few minutes for the club, as a late substitute in the FA Cup against Leicester.
Yet he played the entirety of England’s 2-2 draw with Belgium on Tuesday, three days after completing 67 minutes against Brazil.
Mauricio has revealed three players will need to be assessed ahead of Burnley’s visit in the #PL. ℹ
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) March 28, 2024
The Argentinian is no closer to seeing the end of his team’s injury crisis with nine players currently ruled out of Saturday’s meeting with Burnley at Stamford Bridge.
More squad members will be assessed after returning from international duty, including Chilwell, who took a knock to his knee against Belgium.
“He didn’t play after Brentford, then he played only a few minutes against Leicester,” said Pochettino. “(Then) he started two games (for England).
“It’s a surprise for us. It’s bad luck because he got a dead leg in the last moment against Belgium. Now we need to assess if he can be available.”
Enzo Fernandez was set to return to the club’s Cobham training base on Thursday afternoon after playing twice for Argentina in the United States during the break, and is another player whose fitness will be checked on.
Ben Chilwell in action for England
Three names unlikely to feature on Saturday however are Robert Sanchez, Trevoh Chalobah and Carney Chukwuemeka, the latter after returning injured from duty with England Under-21s.
The club confirmed this week that Romeo Lavia would be out for the rest of the season.
The summer
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