“It’s a shame” - Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino confirms Christopher Nkunku is not available for Middlesbrough clash
Mauricio Pochettino has ruled out Christopher Nkunku from participating in Chelsea's EFL Cup semi-final clash against Middlesbrough on Tuesday (23 January).
Nkunku's Chelsea debut was delayed until December this season due to a knee injury he suffered in pre-season. But he has recently picked up a hip injury that he hasn't been able to shake off ahead of the second leg against Boro.
Chelsea lost the first leg 1-0 at the Riverside Stadium earlier this month and need to score at least once at Stamford Bridge to have any chance of making the final. But they will have to do that without Nkunku's services, who has been sidelined for the upcoming clash.
Speaking to reporters ahead of the game, the Argentine tactician said, via Football.London:
"No. No, he's [Christopher Nkunku] not available for tomorrow. It's a shame but he's in recovery. I hope as soon as possible he can be ready again and help the team."
The French forward has played just 152 minutes across four games for Chelsea since formally joining them last summer. He has scored once during that time, netting in a 2-1 league loss against Wolverhampton Wanderers on 24 December.
Raheem Sterling and Armando Broja are available as the players who can play in the No. 9 role, with Nicolas Jackson away on AFCON duty with Senegal.
Mauricio Pochettino says Chelsea are disappointed after first-leg loss
The EFL Cup is one of the two competitions that Chelsea can realistically win this season. They are not playing in Europe and sit ninth in the table with 31 points from 21 matches — 17 behind leaders Liverpool.
Hence, Chelsea fans would have hoped that their team at least avoided defeat in the away leg of the semi-final fixture against Middlesbrough. But Hayden Hackney's 37th-minute strike ensured Mauricio Pochettino's men walked away with nothing from the game on 9 January.
Speaking about the disappointment after the first leg, Pochettino said, via the aforementioned source:
"I think we were very disappointed after the game. When you analyse the game, I think we deserved more but football is sometimes not to deserve; it's to be clinical, to score goals and to defend strong and to be also in shape. We were all disappointed but we have 90 minutes to fix the situation and try to win."
Chelsea took 18 shots (six on target) to Boro's six (two on target) that day and kept 72% of the ball. They also had an impressive 91% accuracy from their 744 attempted passes while Michael Carrick's team completed 73% of their 298 passes.