Mauricio Pochettino says Chelsea will assess Christopher Nkunku and Nicolas Jackson fitness for Wolves game
Mauricio Pochettino remained careful when speaking about Chelsea stars Christopher Nkunku and Nicolas Jackson’s availability for the Wolves match. The manager claimed they assessed both of them before the game.
Jackson has returned to training from the African Cup of Nations after his side was eliminated by Ivory Coast on penalties 4–5, while Nkunku also appeared in a Liverpool game after being sidelined for a month with a hip injury.
The former RB Leipzig player also opened his account for Chelsea and will hope to add more to his tally when the Blues face Wolves. But Pochettino will be careful with both players’ fitness levels.
The Argentine manager was questioned about whether Jackson and Nkunku would start the Wolves match, (h/t Football.London), Pochettino said:
“We need to also assess Nico. Today was his first training session with us. He didn’t play too much, but of course he was one month away. That is why we need to assess him and not take a risk. But for sure, he will be involved if nothing happens tomorrow with the squad.”
“We need to care about his (Nkunku) situation step by step, building his confidence and his fitness. He needs to work really, really hard to do his best. We’re happy with the way he’s helping the team, but we need to be careful about pushing him in the way we expect.”
Jackson will hopefully be fit to feature against the Wolves after coming from AFCON. The striker might have to operate from the left wing, as we can see Nkunku deploy as a centre-forward because Pochettino will need more threat on the box and Nkunku will provide more experience than any other player in the opposition box.
However, we will have to be careful with him because he has been out for a long time with a hip injury, and we can expect him to come off the bench because he is still building his fitness.
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Meanwhile, Jackson could be in the starting lineup because we don’t have a proper striker, and if Nkunku comes off the bench, Jackson could be shifted to the left, with the Frenchman playing as a centre-forward.