Graham Potter has ruled N’Golo Kante, Edouard Mendy, Marc Cucurella and Carney Chukwuemeka out of tomorrow’s Premier League meeting with Crystal Palace.
Potter was conducting his first press conference prior to a league game since taking over at Chelsea, postponed matches and then the international break having made him wait longer than anticipated.
His first assignment in the Premier League is at Selhurst Park, and speaking to the media at Cobham he provided an update on player availability, starting with N’Golo Kante and Edouard Mendy.
Crystal Palace vs Chelsea - Kante and Mendy injury update
‘They’re not available,’ reported Potter.
‘They’re absolutely fine in terms of coming through the rehab stages. NG has been on the grass with the team, but not really full training.
‘Edou is a bit further on, but hasn’t had enough to be involved at the weekend. Maybe next week for him.'
Crystal Palace vs Chelsea - Marc Cucurella and Carney Chukwuemeka injury update
‘We’ve got a bit of illness with Marc Cucurella and Carney,’ added Potter.
‘Apart from that, everybody is fit.’
Premier League wait is over
It has been 23 days since Potter was appointed and the wait for a first league game mid-season must surely be a record. The manager was asked if that had been a good or bad thing.
‘Probably a bit of both,’ he replied.
‘We’ve used the time to get to know people in an environment where there aren’t games. At the same time we’re itching to go and play. That’s when you learn a lot and make progression.
‘We couldn’t control everything in terms of how it’s panned out with the cancellations, so we’ve just had to make the most of it and now we’re looking forward to starting.’
Crystal Palace vs Chelsea suspension
There are no players suspended for this game on either team.