Mauricio Pochettino has downplayed worries about Cole Palmer having an injury after Chelsea’s loss to Manchester City in the FA Cup semi final on Saturday.
The 21-year-old was observed warming up with bandage on his left thigh before the match at Wembley, and his movements seemed less smooth in the early part of the game.
Chelsea then failed to convert several clear scoring opportunities and paid the price when Bernardo Silva scored in the 84th minute to secure the victory for City, who will face either Manchester United or Coventry City in the FA Cup final on May 25.
When questioned about Palmer’s fitness concerns after Chelsea’s loss to City, Pochettino responded: ‘It’s normal, he’s tired.
‘I don’t think we have issues. We need to check, obviously, tomorrow.
‘But I don’t think and hope it’s anything more than he’s tired.’
Chelsea are now aiming to recover with a positive outcome against Arsenal in the Premier League on Tuesday evening.
And Pochettino acknowledges that his team needs to improve in scoring goals after failing to breach Pep Guardiola’s side at Wembley.
‘In football the most crucial thing is to be precise and to not concede,’ said Pochettino.
‘Even if today we competed well, I can’t say that perhaps we were the superior team, because in football that is hard to measure.
‘But I think the important thing is that we competed. Competing in this manner, now we need to extract the positive aspects from the game. This group of players needs these types of moments and games.
‘Now it’s about taking the positive aspects and trying to retain the things we need and improve the areas we need to enhance.
‘Now is the time to end the season in the best way and then of course see how we can do better next season.’
