Pochettino explains why Nkunku was not in the Chelsea vs Preston squad
Christopher Nkunku was noticeably absent when Chelsea's squad list was announced for their FA Cup third round clash against Preston on Saturday night.
The 26-year-old recently returned to Mauricio Pochettino's team after recovering from an injury that kept him sidelined for four months.
Nkunku made a couple of appearances for Chelsea upon his return (mostly off the bench), and even scored twice, before Pochettino revealed during his press conference on Friday that the Frenchman would not be in the starting XI as a result. to face Preston. of a health problem.
However, the coach said that the former RB Leipzig striker would be on the bench during the match, making it even more worrying that his name did not appear on the team's list.
It turns out that Nkunku actually suffered a hip injury during training, and it was decided it was best to leave him out of the win against Preston entirely.
Asked about the player's absence during an interview, Pochettino told the media: “Nkunku injured his hip in training.”
“They will have to see if he can be ready for the next games.”
From the looks of it, the injury may not be anything serious and there are hopes that Nkunku can recover in time to play in either or both of Chelsea's games against Middlesbrough and Fulham next week.
