The head coach answered the media’s questions at Cobham on Tuesday afternoon. Adding to the injury update provided by the club earlier in the day, Pochettino said Mykhailo Mudryk had a chance of featuring against Tottenham on Monday, but that game would come too soon for Christopher Nkunku.

One player Pochettino was happy to announce would play against Blackburn tomorrow was Reece James.

‘I can confirm he is going to start,’ Pochettino reported.

‘The captain is ready. It’s good for the team, it’s good for him to start from the beginning. We can see after, checking always how he is performing.’

With Championship opposition in town, the Blues have a good chance of reaching the quarter-final of the Carabao Cup. However, despite starting as favourites, Pochettino is taking nothing for granted when it comes to his team selection.

‘I told you before, at the start of the season, a competition like the Carabao Cup or FA Cup is really important for us. Tomorrow, we will try to play with our best team. Some players we will need to rest because after Saturday's game we can’t take risks. But in general, we will try to play our best team.

‘All the players need to be ready to play tomorrow, and then we will decide. We are going to take it very seriously because we want to go far. This is a competition we can go through in.

‘It’s important for us to go forward in this competition, to build momentum, and after go to Tottenham and receive Manchester City with the trust and the confidence we can beat them also.’

Pochettino was also asked about Ben Chilwell. The left-back is continuing his rehabilitation in Los Angeles and the head coach explained why.

‘The plan was to change the scenario for him. That happens in different clubs. When it’s a long period of recovery, sometimes we change the scenarios for them.

‘Twelve hours here every day, it’s a fantastic training ground, but sometimes the player needs to change the atmosphere and the scenario to keep their recovery in a good way. It’s still difficult to know when he will be back.’