The team news is always the most important part of any press conference, and with an FA Cup semi final coming up tomorrow, today was no different.
Speaking after taking training this morning, Thomas Tuchel wasn’t asked for injury updates until quite late on, but once questioned he had some significant news to reveal.
Football.London had the full quotes from the Chelsea coach:
“We have the green light for N’Golo because we’ve had three days [rest since Tuesday night]. Mateo Kovacic is out and Andreas Christensen is also out of the game.”
Overall, we’ve got to be pleased with that outcome. Given the horrific injury problems racking teams across Europe at this stage of a busy season, we’re in a good place here.
Mateo Kovacic and Andreas Christensen have both been great recently, but in N’Golo Kante and Thiago Silva we have brilliant – perhaps even superior – replacements.
The worry is that a freshly returned Kante won’t be able to last 90 minutes, and there will be no Kovacic on the bench to replace him.
But that might just mean it’s time for Billy Gilmour to shine.
