Christopher Nkunku was an unused substitute for Saturday’s Premier League win over Sheffield United, his first competitive involvement for Chelsea after picking up an injury in pre-season, having joined the Blues from Leipzig in the summer.

However, Mauricio Pochettino has revealed why Nkunku didn’t get his chance on the pitch over the weekend, and confirmed he is more confident that the French forward’s debut could come against Newcastle United in tomorrow evening’s Carabao Cup quarter-final at Stamford Bridge, although it is too soon for another summer signing Romeo Lavia.

‘Lavia no, he’s still not ready,’ said Pochettino. ‘Christopher was involved on Saturday and is going to be involved again. Today he trained well, so maybe he has the possibility to be involved in some minutes of the game.

‘The reality is he wasn’t for me a player to be involved after it went 2-0 against Sheffield United. I saw today he was much better than the day before we played against Sheffield United, so maybe it increases the possibility he will be involved. How I saw him today, maybe he can play 20 minutes.

‘How I saw him before the game against Sheffield United, in my mind, there was one per cent or two per cent of doubt, that is why I didn’t want to take a risk with him, I need to be 100 per cent. I think it was good for him to be involved with the team, doing the warm-up, that was amazing, but why take a risk when the game was 2-0?’

Pochettino also discussed where Nkunku might fit into his team now, pointing out that the performances of Nicolas Jackson as our top scorer and the return from injury of Armando Broja mean the answer may be different than it was when Christopher last featured in pre-season.

‘Now we have Jackson and Broja is fully recovered,’ added Pochettino. ‘I think Nkunku can play as a No9, but he can play as a No10, No7 or a No11, different positions. Also, there was a question mark about where Nkunku would start the season because it’s about what the combinations were going to be.

‘During pre-season we were using him in different positions and that was the moment we could assess and analyse. After four or five months out, the combinations are completely different to pre-season because the team evolved and the situation has changed.

‘Now it’s about helping him recover his feeling 100 per cent, and then it’s how he can help the team and see in which position and find the different dynamics for him to fit and be decisive. That is what everyone expects.’

Whether Nkunku is involved or not, though, the most important thing for Pochettino is unquestionably to continue to build on Saturday’s win over Sheffield United and take a step towards lifting silverware in 2023/24 by reaching the Carabao Cup semi-finals.

‘For Newcastle also it’s an important competition. For us, from the beginning of the season, it was one of our objectives and it is still one of our objectives. It is an important game tomorrow and we want to go through but we know we are going to face a very good team, a Champions League team, and it’s going to be tough.

‘It’s really important. We want to go through to the semi-final and win the competition. Our priority is to go through. Of course, Newcastle is a really good team, with good players and great coaches. It is going to be tough.

‘It means more for the people than for us. It means a lot because we want to deliver the trophy for our club, for the fans and of course the players want to deliver this trophy. To lift a trophy is important because always the most important thing is to win.

‘Tomorrow we need to be ready to fight because it can give us the possibility to be closer to a trophy. That’s why we need to fight, we need to be aggressive. We have to follow the last game in the way that we behaved and approached the game. Improving the way we play but keeping the same mentality and the same capacity to fight for every single ball.’