Mauricio Pochettino expressed his concern over the recent injury setback suffered by Chelsea’s defender Ben Chilwell, describing it as “bad news”.
Chilwell had to undergo a scan on Thursday to assess the extent of the hamstring issue that forced him to exit the field during Chelsea’s midweek League Cup victory against Brighton.
Chelsea’s manager, Pochettino, confirmed that it “looks a bad injury” although he couldn’t provide a specific timeframe for Chilwell’s recovery.
This injury represents another setback for the English left-back, who played in only 23 league games last season and missed the 2022 World Cup due to injury.
“I think it is bad news from what the doctor told me. It is not a good thing,” Pochettino told reporters on Friday.
“It looks a bad injury but we need to assess in the next few days and we will see the period he will be out.
“The mechanism was bad, in the last minute of the game. We are really sad about the news about Ben.
“It is difficult to know now, it is less than two days and we need to assess in the next few days.”
With England right-back Reece James also sidelined, Pochettino admitted it was hard to replace to players of such high quality.
“At all clubs, important players are missed when they don’t play,” he said.
“If the question is ‘do we miss them?’ Of course. Reece is a top player and Chilwell also. When they’re at their best, they are the best full-backs in the world.
Pochettino might have to contend with the absence of up to 11 players for the upcoming west London derby against Fulham on Monday. This extensive injury list has been further compounded by the suspensions of Malo Gusto and striker Nicolas Jackson.
However, when Pochettino was questioned about Burnley manager Vincent Kompany’s suggestion of imposing limits on the number of games players can participate in to prevent injuries, the Argentine expressed uncertainty about the feasibility of such an idea.
“Maybe there are players that cannot cope with 70 games during the season, but another player can cope with that,” Pochettino said.
“Another player only can cope with a limited percentage, because the risk is massive to get injured again.
“It’s difficult to generalise. We cannot put some limit on the players. The players want to play every single game. When it’s a top player who wants to play, how do you say no?”