Liam Rosenior has ruled out three players ahead of Chelsea's clash against Arsenal. The Blues are set to be without some big names when they face Mikel Arteta's side at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday evening.
Speaking to reporters at Cobham on Friday afternoon, the Blues boss confirmed that Reece James is available for selection. Rosenior also provided promising updates on Romeo Lavia and Dario Essugo, while ruling out Estevao Willian, Jamie Gittens, and Marc Cucurella.
"Reece is absolutely fine," said the 41-year-old. "Romeo is getting stronger and stronger. We had a mini practice match in the week where he looked really good.
"Estevao will be out for a little bit longer and Jamie Gittens is progressing in his rehab. Cucu is not available for Sunday. Dario Essugo is back on the training pitch, too."
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Chelsea will be determined to exact their revenge on Arsenal following their defeat in the second leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final earlier this month. Reflecting on the result, Rosenior said: "You're always disappointed to lose in a semi-final, but I think there were availability issues.
"For the first leg, I was here for four days. We need to look at it in the right context. With the ball, maybe we could have been more front footed to try and get the result."
The Blues will only have a couple of days to recharge their batteries before facing Aston Villa at Villa Park. Then, on Saturday evening, Chelsea will lock horns with Wrexham in the fifth round of the FA Cup.
In the next three weeks, the west Londoners will play seven games. On the fixture schedule, Rosenior said: "Firstly, it's game by game. I've had this conversation with you guys before; the Premier League is so difficult every week.
"I don't judge one game as harder as the other. There's different tactical things you can work on. I'm really happy with the group and the start we have made. We've won eight out of 12 and it should be 10 out of 12. That's not bad."
On the Opta supercomputer claiming that Chelsea have the toughest run of games, Rosenior said: "I'd love to see what this supercomputer looks like. I don't think about it in that way.
"I want the players to be as physically and mentally fresh as possible. They've looked really good in training this week. We need to stay calm and consistent in our process."
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