Chelsea Assistant Manager Provides Chelsea Injury Update

Chelsea assistant team manager Steve Holland has come out to allay injury concerns to three key players in the squad after yesterday’s win over Newcastle.

There were fears of injury for Thibaut Courtios, Gary Cahill who were both left on the bench as well as Ceasar Azpilicueta who was pulled out just after the half-hour mark due to a muscle cramp.

The assistant manager who stood in for Jose Mourinho has however come out to give an all-clear talk concerning the trio’s situations.

Petr Cech was handed a rare start in a league match against the Magpies with Courtios taking a place on the bench but Steve Holland was quick to explain the reason behind the new No.1’s omission from the starting line-up.

Holland stated that Courtios’ omission was a precautionary measure due to the injury he sustained on a finger during the Tottenham Hotspur’s game on new year day.

“Thibaut had an injury to his finger that he sustained in the Tottenham game,” Holland said.

“He could have played, but he had pain. We’re so fortunate to have two goalkeepers at the highest level. It was an easy decision to make in the end. Why take the risk?”

The assistant coach also spoke about Gary Cahill who many were surprised to see on the bench. The England defensive stalwart was left out of the starting XI with French youngster Kurt Zouma taking his place.

“We play for nine months, we look like we’re going to play 60-odd matches,” Holland explained.

“We’ve just come out of a Christmas schedule where Gary played in every game, and we have faith in all of the players in our squad. That faith was repaid today.”

Zouma once again put up an impressive showing and the coach was elusive with his praise of the youngster.

“The club gets a lot of stick for not giving young players a go, and Kurt Zouma is 20 years of age. That’s not his first appearance of the season.

“He was immaculate today, and we all have belief in him, but ultimately as the leader and the manager Jose has to make the decisions.

“He showed great faith in him today by starting him. And that faith was repaid – I thought his performance was immaculate. I can’t think of anything he did wrong.”

The extent of Azpilicueta’s injury however, was not confirmed with the coach stating that further scan will need to be done to get a clearer view of the player’s situation.

“He has a slight groin problem, we don’t think it’s a major one. We’ll know more when he has the scans.”

Azpilicueta was pulled out on the 38th hour mark with what was perceived as a minor groin and was replaced by Brazilian full back Filippe Luis.

Chelsea’s performance though, not vintage as we have seen earlier in the season, but it was enough to take a comfortable 2-0 victory over Newcastle who a month ago inflicted a 2-1 defeat to the Blues and ending Jose Mourinho’s unbeaten run in the process.