"We have to deal with it and find solutions" - Thomas Tuchel confirms extent of duo's injury absence, says Chelsea cannot make 'excuses'
Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel has provided an injury update on Romelu Lukaku and Timo Werner. The two stars picked up injuries in their side's 4-0 triumph over Malmo in the Champions League on Wednesday.
The German expects both players to be out for some time but claims that shouldn't be an excuse for the Blues. The Chelsea boss was quoted as saying:
"We have a twist of the ankle for Romelu, and a muscle injury and hamstring for Timo, so they will be a few days out I guess. Normally we are in a good place injury wise, only Christian Pulisic is out, but we miss everybody. We have a lot of games, lot of competitions, so now we have to deal and find solutions, no excuses."
He added:
"The two were in good shape, they are dangerous and can create and score so now we need to find solutions and guys who waited for their chance need to step up and score."
"The race is on, the guys who start against Norwich have our trust and we will try to find new solutions. We have won games before with Werner and Lukaku, we don't want these problems too often but it happens during a season."
Chelsea returned to winning ways in the Champions League with their convincing victory against Malmo, having lost to Juventus 1-0 in the preceding fixture.
Thomas Tuchel is happy to see his side bounce back in style in their third UCL game of the season. The tactician said:
"We wanted three points and wanted them deserved, and we got both of those. We played to huge intensity, we demanded this from us and we played an excellent game until it was 4-0. We are very happy."
Thomas Tuchel and Chelsea marching in the right direction
Chelsea have had a remarkable start to the season, with decent results across domestic and continental competitions. Thomas Tuchel's men currently lead the Premier League table with 19 points in eight games so far.
Courtesy of their 4-0 triumph over Malmo in the Champions League, the Blues maintained their second position in the Group H table with six points from three games. They also kickstarted their EFL Cup campaign with a victory against Aston Villa last month, which means they're still in the fight for all trophies this season.