Chelsea interim head coach, Calum McFarlane, has expressed hope that Levi Colwill, Reece James and Joao Pedro will be available for the final Premier League game of the season against Sunderland.
The trio were not in Chelsea’s starting XI for the 2-1 win over Tottenham Hotspur at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday, a decision McFarlane said was taken as a precaution following a busy run of fixtures.
Chelsea secured victory in the derby through goals from Enzo Fernandez and Andrey Santos, with Richarlison’s strike proving only a consolation for Spurs.
The team also made changes to the group that featured in the FA Cup final defeat to Manchester City three days earlier, with James named on the bench while Colwill and Joao Pedro were left out entirely.
Explaining the decisions after the match, McFarlane said the situation around Colwill required careful management following his recent injury setback.
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“Levi has obviously come off the back of a very serious injury, so it was probably too quick a turnaround from the cup final,” he explained.
“So that one pretty much speaks for itself. We didn’t want to risk him. We couldn’t afford to risk him tonight, but that would be expected. That would’ve been the plan from the beginning.
On Reece James, McFarlane pointed to the short turnaround between matches and the need to manage his workload.
“Reece is the same. We had Reece on the bench tonight but, again, coming off the back of an injury, 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.
Joao Pedro also missed out after picking up a minor issue, though McFarlane stressed it was not considered serious.
“Joao Pedro had a slight knock. It’s nothing that we’re massively concerned about, but again, with the quick turnaround from City, it just wasn’t worth risking Joao Pedro in that moment.”
With no major injury concerns reported after the win over Tottenham, attention has now shifted to whether the trio will be fit in time for Sunday’s trip to Sunderland.
Asked about their availability, McFarlane said it remains uncertain.
“It’s definitely a wait-and-see,” he responded. “We’ve got a little bit of time from now until then, so we’re hopeful, but we won’t know that until we see how the next couple of days unfold.”
