Chelsea boss, Thomas Tuchel, has provided the latest update on his squad ahead of the Blues’ FA Cup clash with Sheffield United on Sunday afternoon at Stamford Bridge.
Tuchel confirmed that Thiago Silva would miss Chelsea’s clash against Sheffield, adding that he doesn’t want to risk the Brazilian.
The German also said that he hoped Tammy Abraham would be ready for the clash after the England international participated in Chelsea’s training.
Chelsea head to the game after eliminating Atletico Madrid from the Champions League on Wednesday.
“Now is not the moment to take the risk with Thiago,” Tuchel said at his pre-match press conference on Friday.
“It is the last game before the international break, and he wasn’t on the pitch today, but he is working hard and hopefully, he can rejoin the group during the international break.
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“It’s already too long [for him to be out], but I know how hard he and the medical team are working, and we have zero complaints. We are taking our time with him because we want him to feel 100 percent ready and 100 percent free from the injury.
“Tammy was with the group today, and we hope he will be available for Sunday.
“We had a scary moment when he stumbled and twisted his ankle, but it seems not too serious. He was in a lot of pain at the time, but he feels ok now.”
Tuchel also revealed he held a one-to-one talk with Tammy Abraham to support the striker to keep fighting for his place in the Blues’ squad after he fell down the pecking order.
Abraham made sixteen Premier League appearances under former Chelsea manager, Frank Lampard this season but has made just four since Tuchel took charge at Stamford Bridge.
The England international is behind Timo Werner, Olivier Giroud, and Kai Havertz in Tuchel’s choice of strikers in recent weeks.
Speaking ahead of Chelsea’s FA Cup clash with Sheffield United on Sunday, Tuchel said at his pre-match press conference: “We [Tammy and I] had some talks to encourage him to never give in, to accept the situation, to not overthink it, to just come back to the situation where the striker must not overthink it.
“He just needs to be in the flow, and if the team is winning without him, then you can feel a bit excluded.
“But it is not like this with him, so hopefully he can be back now, back in the squad, be totally free, and there are some hard choices, and he’s a part of the group.
“It has been hard for him because he has never felt fully free, never felt fully painless after this tackle, so it was hard for him to really perform on the level that you need to perform in training to convince your coach to leave somebody else out.”
The kick-off time for the match is 2:30 pm.
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