Tuchel confident of having a squad to compensate for players’ absence

Despite having to deal with some injury concerns ahead of their visit to St James’ Park, manager Thomas Tuchel believes he has the players he needs. Chelsea take on Newcastle this weekend hoping for a win to help them maintain the top spot at the Premier League table. There will be no Romelu Lukaku or Timo Werner involved and Tuchel informed on Friday that the game comes a little too early for Christian Pulisic, who is training again. However, Cesar Azpilicueta, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Andreas Christensen and N’Golo Kante are over their small problems. It is also a new hamstring injury for Mateo Kovacic, making Tuchel speak about the depth of the squad at his disposal.

“I miss Mateo a lot, he has been a key factor till now and it’s really sad to see him get injured in the very last second of the training on Thursday,” Tuchel was quoted as saying by the club’s website. “But actually in midfield, and hopefully it stays like this, we have still Jorginho, N’Golo, Ruben who comes back after only two or three days out, and we have Saul, so there’s still a lot of quality we can use to compensate. 

‘We want to prove we are a strong group’

He added: “You cannot predict that you will lose three key offensive players at the same time, this is quite unlucky, and you cannot have a squad with five, six or seven key players and three of them constantly waiting for another three to get injured. This does not exist in real life.

“I’m happy with the guys who will be on the pitch today, they earned our trust. We arrived at this group of 18 plus goalkeepers and we are capable of pushing the limits so high that we can win consecutive games. There is no doubt about it. There’s a bit of a stretch at the moment, the group is tested, and we want to prove we are a strong group and can compensate for situations like this.”

Tuchel on Loftus-Cheek 

Tuchel also informed that there is a good chance Ruben Loftus-Cheek might play on Saturday. The 25-year-old missed out due to a hip problem midweek but impressed when he came on against Norwich a week ago. “I’m super happy with Ruben,” says Tuchel. “Obviously he deserves to play and he did some pretty strong minutes and matches for us.

“I love that he took the chance and what he brought to the team. It’s a huge challenge to play regularly in central midfield for our club because there are guys like N’Golo, Jorgi and Mateo who proved it over a longer time in this club. This cannot be turned completely upside down after two or three good matches but he’s on his way.

“Malang Sarr, Ross Barkley and he brought something to the group when they had no pressure. They were happy to be here to do this first step to be a fixed member of the squad so they were full of positivity, full of good energy and it is a big credit to them how they did it.

“There will come a time where things feel more normal to be in this group and you’re not only happy if you just get 20 minutes. Then they have to prove that they can keep the same spirit and same level. Ruben did a huge step up from the start of the season until now and the route is not finished. He has to proceed.”