Chelsea will travel to Arsenal in the 29th round of the Premier League on Wednesday at 3am Beijing time, and Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino spoke about his team's preparations before the game.
Palmer is ill, will he still be available against Arsenal?
Today it is not clear. We need to assess his situation tomorrow morning. But today, no, I don't think he's going to be involved, but we need to assess his situation tomorrow and then make a decision. Even if he feels good tomorrow, he may not be fit to play. I hope he recovers from this injury as soon as possible and plays for the team again.
Can you still win without him (Palmer)?
Whether he plays or not, we believe that the team is the most important thing to win. Of course, he's a big part of our team. He's done a great job for the team, but this is Chelsea and there's a lot of players available to play and do his job.
Can you explain what happened to Chilwell and Gusto?
Marlowe (Gusto) has a minor problem with the ligaments in his knees. I'm not a doctor, but if you ask me, I respect you and will try to explain what is happening, I hope it's not a big trouble. Ben Chilwell has had the same problems in the last few weeks since his international team.
Do you want Thiago Silva to stay?
I think he said it after the game against Manchester City and we don't have time to talk now. When he wants to communicate, he will tell me and we will communicate with the club. So far, we haven't spoken. We played together in the FA Cup semi-finals and are now trying to climb up the table. But at the moment, we don't have any communication.
How much have you improved Jacquesson?
The first season is difficult for all the players, especially in the forward position, with good performances and the ability to score goals, and every player wants to score with every touch of the ball.
He [Jacquesson] is our main striker and the only striker we are suited for. Because Nkunku hasn't played for almost the entire season. Broja too, he went to Fulham and wanted to play more. Yes, Jacques did a great job. He put in an amazing performance for the team – running, scoring goals and helping.
I think Jacquesson did a great job in his first Premier League season. He plays like his idol Drogba and if we compare his performance to Drogba, yes, he can't compare. But if we look at the history of the club separately from the performance of the team, I think he [Jacquesson] has done a good job and he needs my support.
Even if he doesn't score, he's fighting for the club, fighting for his team. Sometimes he can also create chances and he needs time to improve. Of course, he will get better next season. I have no doubt about that. He just needs to keep going.
Chelsea are 27 points behind Arsenal in the table, are you confident that Chelsea will return to the level they are now?
Are we confident that one day we will reach the same level? Yes, of course. We are optimistic about this. In the world of football, the most important thing is to believe, and to have a strategy and plan to get to that level.
A few years ago, when Mikel Arteta first took charge of Arsenal, they were in a different position than they are today. And then he got time, confidence, and trust there. This has also happened to different coaches such as Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp. It's no different. It's about having trust and confidence, and let's just do it.
Grealish was not awarded for handball in Saturday's FA Cup tie, while Nottingham Forest were undecided for three suspected penalties yesterday, what do you think of Forest's post-match statement?
I don't want to be involved in something I can't be involved in. For me, I feel like the most important thing is to talk about my game and my club.
Of course, I'm disappointed that we lost on Saturday. Of course, in this case, the referee may or may not adjudicate. In football, these controversial decisions are sometimes made for you and sometimes against you. We need to keep going because we can't change the outcome of the game.
Are you looking for ways to encourage your players?
Everyone was in a good mood because I thought we were doing well on the pitch. We played well against one of the best teams in the world. I think we played really well and we need to sum up the positives in the game.
In the last few minutes we were given a goal that we shouldn't have been given, but I think that's part of football. We created so many chances against one of the best teams in the world. It's a good thing to keep playing this way, it's the way we're going to need it in the future.
How we get to this level is by working, making decisions and trying to add something to the team that will help us improve. Of course, we're trying to do that. This is the first season in which we have faced so many situations and we are happy that we have a good development now.
You were pretty close to beating Arsenal in the first meeting of the season, so what can you take away from this one?
Now it's completely different, I think it's completely different. Now we're nearing the end of the season. They are fighting for the Premier League title and it will be a final for them.
For us, it should feel the same way. We need three points to move up the table. I think we're playing two or three fewer games than almost all the teams above us at the moment, so it's important to try and win games like that and then try to get close to qualifying for Europe next season.
John Terry was inducted into the Premier League Hall of Fame today, what do you remember of him as a player?
Well, he's a great player. It was very tough to face him when I was still at Tottenham. Congratulations to him, he deserves this honor.
Jacquesson missed quite a few chances at the weekend. How did he react to the game and how did you encourage him?
We were chatting yesterday and he was more tired than usual. Because the team still wants to win, all the players want to reach the final. But he's still young and he needs to go through that to improve. The whole team was much better today.
Is only two days of recovery acceptable for your team?
This is fixed. What can we do? There's no way to change, we need to accept it. We were involved in the League Cup until the end and now the FA Cup is almost to the end. We need to seize these two days of recovery time, and while it's not the best thing to do, we need to accept it.
I think Pep Guardiola's post-match 'what can we do?' was not just about having the Premier League hold a meeting and communicate with us. And to be part of the decision. But at the moment, there's not much we can do.
Arsenal have a very consistent team and that's something you can't do. Does that give you some insight into the consistency of the team?
Yes, it's true. Consistency means getting all players in the middle of the season to get used to the pace of the game or more attendance. To increase the tactical diversity of the available players, this will be a challenge for the team next season.
Consistency is about getting players competing for a starting spot on the pitch, like today or yesterday when they were training. In fact, throughout the season, we really didn't have the opportunity to play all the players in healthy condition due to injuries.
We can't complain, in the world of football we need to accept it. I repeat, it's difficult to match the history of the club, but if we can look at the history of the team, the history and all the circumstances, I think we'll do well.
How do you feel about the racism that Jacquesson was subjected to on social media after Saturday's race?
We've all been there, and many public figures have been there. This is becoming more and more common in the football world because people are hiding behind social media, which is why it can't be used as a reference. We talk about this all the time, but it doesn't serve as a reference.
Of course, we need to be active on social media because it's a great way to communicate with the fans, with those who are friendly fans, and with friendly people who want to get to know us. But there are also some people who hide behind social media (finger pointing). The most important thing is to be strong and know that this is not what people are really saying about you.
(End of press conference)