London, Jan 11 (IANS) Chelsea coach Liam Rosenior shared updates on the fitness of Malo Gusto, Reece James and Cole Palmer after the trio missed the FA Cup third-round win over Charlton Athletic, saying the trio’s absence was precautionary after they had minor tweaks or knocks from the Fulham game and he didn’t need to risk their health.
Goals from Jorrel Hato, Tosin Adarabioyo, Marc Guiu and substitutes Pedro Neto and Enzo Fernandez helped Chelsea to a 5-1 victory over Charlton despite Rosenior making eight alterations to the starting XI that lost to Fulham.
“Malo, Cole and Reece were precautionary today. I don’t want to take any risks at this stage of the season.
‘They had minor tweaks or knocks from the Fulham game. And I feel like I’ve got such a good squad here. I don’t need to risk their health at the moment.
‘We have a huge game on Wednesday. We have a huge game on Saturday against Brentfort. And I’ll check the medical reports tonight and tomorrow morning and see how they are then,” Rosenior said in a post-match presser.
Rosenior officially took charge of Chelsea on Thursday, meaning he only watched on from the stands during Wednesday’s defeat to Fulham.
In his first game as Blues head coach, he saw Chelsea enjoying 78 per cent possession and 11 shots in the first half but had to wait until the fourth minute of injury-time to take the lead through Jorrel Hato.
Tosin Adarabioyo’s header early in the second half gave us a buffer and while Miles Leaburn reduced the deficit soon after, the two-goal advantage was restored by Marc Guiu just five minutes later.
Rosenior hailed the attitude of Chelsea’s players during his first game as the club’s head coach. “‘I believe in this group. I believe in all of them. And if we want to have a really strong season, we need to use them (all),” he said.
“I need to put faith into them, and they repaid my faith today. And they’ve given me real cause for optimism for the future,” he added.
Chelsea will next play the League Cup semi-final against Arsenal on Wednesday.
–IANS
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