Chelsea are set to be without leading scorer Cole Palmer for tomorrow night’s trip to Arsenal.
Palmer missed training today through illness and is a major doubt for the game at the Emirates.
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The 21-year-old has been the biggest plus in a disappointing season for Chelsea, scoring 23 goals in all competitions following his move from Manchester City last summer.
“We’ll see tomorrow. We need to assess tomorrow morning but today I don’t believe that he can be involved,” said Pochettino.
“We need to assess him tomorrow and then we will decide. Even if he is good tomorrow, maybe he won’t be in a condition to play. I hope he can recover from this situation as soon as possible and be ready to play.”
ℹ️ Cole has been absent from training due to illness, while @BenChilwell and @Gusto_Malo are undergoing medical assessment ahead of Arsenal.
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) April 22, 2024
Taking on the title challengers without the England international will be difficult but Pochettino is confident he has the players to spring a surprise.
He added: “With or without him, we believe that we can win. The most important is the team, the collective.
“Of course, he is an important part of the team and is doing fantastic but this is Chelsea and there are plenty of players who can perform and do a job also.”
One player who could do with a morale-boosting performance is striker Nicolas Jackson, who struggled against Manchester City in the FA Cup semi-finals on Saturday, squandering three wonderful chances to give Chelsea the lead before they were eventually undone by Bernardo Silva’s late strike.
“The first season is always difficult for all the players, especially when you are a striker and need to perform and score goals,” said Pochettino, who may also be without Malo Gusto and Ben Chilwell.
“Everyone expects you to score a goal with every touch. He is our main striker, the only striker that we have fit because [Christopher] Nkunku nearly didn’t play the whole season, [Armando] Broja also then moved to Fulham because he wanted to play more.
“[Jackson] is doing fantastic, he’s doing an amazing job for the team, running, scoring goals and giving assists. He’s a young guy coming from Spain and he’s done fantastic.
“If we compare with [Didier] Drogba, yes, he is always going to lose. We need to split the history of the club with the performance of Jackson.
“He has all my support because even if he doesn’t always score, the way he is fighting for the club and his team-mates… he is going to be better next season, no doubt. He just needs to keep going.”
It has been a challenging first season at Stamford Bridge for Pochettino, who has yet to win over the supporters but he believes Arsenal are proof that results will follow if he is given time.
“We are confident to one day get to the same level [as Arsenal],” he said “Of course, we are optimistic and in football the most important is to believe and have the plan to get to this level.
“Arsenal were in a different situation a few years ago when [Mikel] Arteta arrived. Then with time, a few years of trust and confidence in him, they’re there. It’s happened with different coaches like Pep [Guardiola] or [Jurgen] Klopp.
“We need to have time to work.”
