Chelsea duo Mykhailo Mudryk and Armando Broja won’t be in the matchday squad when Mauricio Pochettino’s men take on Blackburn Rovers in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday evening.
Mudryk has not played since the 2-2 draw against Arsenal due to a muscular problem, having missed the 2-0 defeat against Brentford at the weekend.
Pochettino had originally described the Ukrainian international’s injury as minor prior to Saturday’s match. Speaking about the absence of Mudryk and Enzo Fernandez, he said:
“We hoped they would be okay to be in the squad, but unfortunately, they aren’t quite ready. Neither of them are big issues, but we didn’t want to take any risks.”
Why is Broja missing from the squad?
The Albanian international has suffered irritation in his left knee. Pochettino has been at pains to point out that the striker suffered the ACL in his right knee so this is a different issue.
After returning from 10 months out, he started two games in a row against Fulham and Burnley, before being taken off at half-time in the latter fixture.
Broja has not played since the international break due to injury and he will now also be a doubt for the London derby against Tottenham on Monday night.
What about the fitness of other Chelsea players?
Enzo Fernandez was not mentioned in Chelsea’s medical report, which suggests he will be in the squad for the Blackburn match.
Trevoh Chalobah (hamstring) and Carney Chukwuemeka (knee) have suffered setbacks in their recoveries from their respective injuries, while vice-captain Ben Chilwell (hamstring), Christopher Nkunku (knee), Romeo Lavia (ankle) and Wesley Fofana (knee) also remain on the treatment table. They are not expected to return to action any time soon.