‘We were forced’ – Chelsea coach confirms he had to play Ugochukwu because of Caicedo’s unavailability

Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino has confirmed that he was forced to play Lesley Ugochukwu in his side’s 2-1 loss to Wolverhampton Wanderers due to the unavailability of Moises Caicedo. 

Caicedo was not well enough to be named in the traveling squad to the Molineux Stadium and Enzo Fernandez was not available for selection due to injury, which opened the door for Ugochukwu to make a rare Premier League start. 

Ugochukwu’s inclusion in the starting lineup was a decision that took almost everyone by surprise, given that the France U21 international of Nigerian descent had not figured for the Blues for a month due to a muscle-related injury. 

The French-Nigerian youngster had to be withdrawn in the 58th minute after suffering a reoccurrence of his hamstring injury.

Ugochukwu is all but ruled out of Chelsea’s Premier League meeting with Crystal Palace at Stamford Bridge under the lights on Wednesday, December 27.

Speaking to reporters at his pre-match press conference, Pochettino was quoted as saying by Football.London: “With Lesley, we will assess him tomorrow, but I think he felt his hamstring again.

“I said in the press conference it is important how we reintroduce players, but we were forced because of the problem with Moises to play Lesley.

“It’s a difficult situation because now he’s a player we’re going to miss, we hope not for too much [time]. We need all of the players.”

Since his summer move from Rennes, Ugochukwu has appeared in thirteen matches across all competitions, including six starts.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel 

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