Thomas Tuchel: N’Golo Kante fit to return against Tottenham Hotspur

Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel stated that he has no fresh injury concerns ahead of Sunday’s trip to Tottenham Hotspur. He also informed that French midfielder N’Golo Kante is fit to return to the squad, however American Christian Pulisic remains sidelined. Tuchel revealed that Pulisic has stepped up his individual work ahead of joining the group in full training soon. On the other hand, Kante will be part of the Chelsea squad heading to north London this weekend. “We have no fresh injury concerns,” Tuchel confirmed at his pre-match media briefing.

“There is good news on Christian Pulisic and N’Golo Kante. Christian is in individual training and is trying to come back as fast as possible to join in with full training. He’s not in the squad this weekend, as the game comes too early for him, but he is working hard on his fitness. N’Golo is back. He’s back in full shape and ready to play on Sunday.”

Thomas Tuchel on Antonio Rudiger

Thomas Tuchel was also asked whether there was any update on Antonio Rudiger’s contract situation, with the German defender’s current deal is set to expire at the end of the season. Rudiger has continued to shine brightly in Chelsea’s defence under Tuchel. He started this season as strongly as he ended the last campaign. The manager hopes that a “solution” can be found between the player and the club in terms of extending his Stamford Bridge stay.

“I hope that we find the solution but it’s not only about coaches and players and what we wish for,” said Tuchel of Rudiger’s situation. “In the moment it is between the club, the player and the agent. We hope we can find a solution, because he is playing some excellent football for us. He’s very calm, very focused and none of this is a distraction for him. Sometimes these things need a little bit of time but there is no news on this from my side. I think Toni feels very good at Chelsea.

“It’s well deserved [the credit he is getting] because he always delivers when he plays. He feels the love from the supporters and he’s at a big club in Europe, playing in one of the best leagues and whatever happens will happen. I am relaxed about it and as I said earlier, it is between the club and the player’s representatives to find the solutions.”

‘We need to keep growing as a team’

Not just in the Premier League, but also in the Champions League, Chelsea started on the front foot. Romelu Lukaku has continued his goalscoring form, netting another goal in the Blues’ Champions League opener on Tuesday night. The Belgian scored the only goal of the game as the London club defeated Zenit St Petersburg in their opening match.

“I’m really happy with the win against a tough opponent,” Lukaku said after the game. “We really kept the game under control and now we need to keep growing as a team. It was a better team performance than the weekend and I was really happy with the goal and the win.

“Zenit are a good side. They’ve won a lot of titles in Russia, they are experienced and they are organised. We knew it would be a tough game but I felt we controlled things really well. We created a lot of chances, we stayed patient and got that breakthrough. We won the game and that’s the most important thing.”