Chelsea have fitness concerns over three players ahead of their final-day trip to Sunderland at the Stadium of Light
Chelsea interim boss Calum McFarlane says the club will take a “wait and see” approach over Joao Pedro’s fitness ahead of their final-day trip to Sunderland.
The £60m forward missed Tuesday night’s 2-1 London derby win over Tottenham after picking up a minor knock, leaving his availability for the Stadium of Light uncertain.
Club captain Reece James and defender Levi Colwill - both academy graduates - were also managed carefully, with James named among the substitutes and Colwill left out of the squad completely as Chelsea continue to assess his return from a long-term knee injury. Joao Pedro joined Chelsea from Brighton in a deal worth up to £60m last summer.
“Joao Pedro had a slight knock,” McFarlane said. “It is nothing that we are massively concerned about, but again, with the quick turnaround from the Manchester City game, it just wasn’t worth risking him in that moment. Levi has obviously come off the back of a very serious injury, so it was probably too quick a turnaround from the cup final.
“We didn’t want to risk him. We couldn’t afford to risk him tonight, but that would be expected. That would have been the plan from the beginning. Reece is the same. We had Reece on the bench tonight, but again, coming off the back of an injury and the turnaround from the City game - the type of game that the City game was - we didn’t really want to risk him in that moment.”
Chelsea head to Wearside knowing victory would secure European football, potentially in the Europa League, but McFarlane is not yet able to say whether the trio will be involved against Régis Le Bris’ side. “It is definitely a wait-and-see,” McFarlane said. “We have a little bit of time from now until then, so we’re hopeful. But we won’t know that until the next couple of days unfold.”
The uncertainty adds another layer to Sunderland’s final-day picture, with the Black Cats needing to beat Chelsea to keep their own European hopes alive. Le Bris’ side will then need either Brentford to drop points at Liverpool or Brighton to lose against Manchester United, while there is also a route to the Europa League if results go the Wearsiders’ way.
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