Mauricio Pochettino has refused to confirm whether Christopher Nkunku will start on the final day of the Premier League season after seeing the Frenchman play more minutes than he expected in midweek.
On Wednesday, in the 2-1 win over Brighton and Hove Albion, Ukrainian Tariq Lampti accidentally hit Nkunku in the head, who replaced Chelsea team-mate Mykhailo Mudryk after just 42 minutes. Pochettino confirmed after the game that Mudryk was "a little dizzy" from the incident and was unable to play Bournemouth at Stamford Bridge due to a minor concussion.
The £52 million Nkunku netted just his third Premier League goal to secure Chelsea's victory, a rare high in his debut season, which was limited to 411 minutes due to ongoing injury issues. On whether Nkunku would start on the final day, Pochettino hinted to err on caution as his game at Brighton came sooner than expected.
The Argentine said: "He played more than we expected because of Mudryk's problems, he played 70 minutes. ”。“ More than we planned. If he can start, we'll assess him tomorrow. ”。“ After Wednesday's game, 90 minutes were difficult for him to play. We don't need to take any chances. We'll make the best decision for him first and then make a decision for the team. We can't take any chances. He needs to finish the game with good feeling and start pre-season like Reece James. ”
Mauricio Pochettino has also been investigated for Chelsea's rising form, having climbed to sixth place in the Premier League after being stuck in the middle of the table for much of the season. Qualification for the Europa League is therefore now a very real possibility, with the fate of the Blues in their own hands on the final day.
Pochettino explained: "We believe we can do it. ”。“ Was there a turning point? The process of work, constantly pushing and believing. When everyone wants to attack you because they want yesterday's results. They didn't show patience. That's why experience is really important in life, just like in football. There's no doubt that it's important to yourself, to the work you plan and the way you play. ”。
"No doubt it's just because we sometimes don't get what we want...... Sometimes football takes time to build bonds between players. We protect the players. Sometimes we can be wrong, but the more experience and intuition, the more we will find that it is only a matter of time before we can improve, perform better, and achieve the results we want. ”