When the Blues walk out at Wembley Stadium for our FA Cup semi-final on Saturday afternoon, it will be without Christopher Nkunku.

In addition to discussing the game itself, Mauricio Pochettino provided good news in an update on the French forward’s potential return to action, even if tomorrow’s match will be too soon for him.

‘With Nkunku it is about assessing him day by day and in the last few days he has had the possibility to be involved in some part of the training sessions,’ said our head coach.

‘Now we need to see the reaction of his body and then how he is going to evolve. We hope we can recover him and have him available before the season finishes.’

Turning his attention to the short term, Pochettino gave his view on tomorrow’s big match, when Chelsea and Manchester City go head-to-head at Wembley for a place in this season’s FA Cup final.

It has been suggested that our opponents may be suffering after their penalty shootout defeat to Real Madrid in the Champions League in midweek, but Pochettino knows that won’t change the threat Pep Guardiola's City will pose.

‘We know very well when you play 120 minutes in the Champions League, the effort is massive and emotionally it’s not always easy to recover after you lose the possibility of reaching a semi-final.

‘It’s going to be tough for them, like it is for us. We must remember they have an unbelievable squad and players who didn’t have the possibility to play on Wednesday can perform in the same way if they play. They have shown in the last six or seven years how consistent they are playing under Pep’s philosophy, winning titles, respecting the idea they have applied at the club.

‘I think it’s a challenge for us because they are a club that is doing a fantastic job and showing they are, if not the best, one of the best teams in the world over the last six or seven years.’

However, helping Chelsea in the difficult task they face tomorrow will be the experience gained from competing for a trophy at Wembley earlier this season, in the extra-time Carabao Cup final loss to Liverpool.

While that occasion didn’t end in success, Pochettino believes it will still benefit the players when we return to Wembley this time around, and they will be prepared for the game to go all the way to extra time – or even a penalty shootout – once again.

‘The experience could be a good point for the team,’ he added. ‘Maybe for the players that repeat and have the possibility to play again, they will know what it means to play at Wembley. That could help them rest more, be calm, and approach the game in a different way.

‘But it’s going to be a completely different game, against a different club, in a different situation. For football players or coaches, the most important thing is always to adapt to the circumstances.

‘Things can always change but the most important thing is to react in a good way when things happen. It’s to be with the experience that we already there played, which must be an important thing for us, that now as a team we know how it feels to play at Wembley.

‘We are ready if it goes to extra time or penalties, but then penalties are penalties, look what happened in different competitions over the last few days, you never know. We have practiced and we have a clear idea, but in the end it is difficult to guess what is going to happen. But we are ready.’

The Blues also go into this game in good spirits, after the brilliant 6-0 win over Everton at Stamford Bridge on Monday evening, and Pochettino is hoping we can carry that boost into the weekend.

‘I am happy in the way that we have trained this week and with the way we played against Everton. It was an amazing game.

‘We need to translate that tomorrow in a game that is going to be really difficult. It is the semi-final, but it’s like a final because it’s a game you need to win to go through. So we will need to have the energy and the capacity to fight.’