MX23RW : Tuesday, November 5 18:12:29| >> :120:20954:20954:

Thomas Tuchel urges Tammy Abraham to focus on regaining fitness

Thomas Tuchel urges Tammy Abraham to focus on regaining fitness
© Reuters
The England international is battling an ankle problem.

Thomas Tuchel has told Tammy Abraham to stop worrying about his Chelsea selection battle and focus instead on finally beating his troublesome ankle injury.

Abraham must start from scratch in his latest bid to beat the injury that has plagued him since the Blues' 2-0 Premier League win over Newcastle on February 15.

The 23-year-old has featured just once since first suffering the problem and missed Sunday's 2-0 FA Cup quarter-final win over Sheffield United.

Chelsea v Sheffield United – Emirates FA Cup – Quarter Final – Stamford Bridge
Thomas Tuchel hopes Tammy Abraham can now quickly move past his nagging ankle injury (John Walton/PA)

And now Blues boss Tuchel has told the England forward to forget about his status in the Chelsea squad until he is fully free of the nagging issue.

"Of course, he needs to be fit, that's correct," said Tuchel.

"Then to take it step by step, through good training performances and to fight his way back.

"The way back is maybe for him to be a substitute and to be hungry and full of quality in training.

"These are the next steps, but now is not the moment to worry about the first XI, as he has been out for many games, unfortunately too many games.

"It is absolutely not his fault and he is hungry to come back and he tries all the time.

"He tries all the time, but this is the risk to push the players back as soon as possible.

"It was an accident in training because we thought he would be in the squad on Sunday. So nobody's fault.

"Now is a kind of restart and we hope he can use the next two weeks to get fit again."

Abraham has fallen down the pecking order of Chelsea's strikers since Tuchel's arrival in January.

Timo Werner and Olivier Giroud have both featured centrally, while Kai Havertz has recently operated as a false nine.

With Chelsea repeatedly heavily linked with a summer move for Borussia Dortmund's Erling Haaland, Abraham's position at Stamford Bridge has come under scrutiny.

But Tuchel is simply determined to help the Blues academy graduate back to full fitness before considering anything else.

"He quit training on Friday after a five-minute warm-up so there was more or less no chance he could join the squad," said Tuchel.

"It was the same injury, more or less, but he had a re-injury in more or less the same spot where the first injury was.

"So he is in pain and he had to quit the session after five minutes with no chance he could join us on Sunday."

Oliver Norwood's own goal and a late counter-attack finish from Hakim Ziyech booked Chelsea an FA Cup semi-final clash with Manchester City as the Blues saw off the Blades 2-0 in west London.

Sheffield United spurned two big second-half chances, but interim boss Paul Heckingbottom revealed his pride in veteran Phil Jagielka, who started for the Blades just days after the death of his older brother Steve.

"Everyone should be proud of him," said Heckingbottom of 38-year-old Jagielka.

"Fans, his family, everyone at the club is.

"I'd like to say how well he's handled himself. To put in the performance that he did, I thought he was immaculate from start to finish."

ID:440296: cacheID:440296:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:8462:
Restore Data
Share this article now:
Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel pictured on March 4, 2021
Read Next:
Tuchel: 'We had to suffer before beating Sheffield United'
>
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool108111961325
2Manchester CityMan City1072121111023
3Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest10541147719
4Chelsea105322012818
5Arsenal105321711618
6Aston Villa105321715218
7Tottenham HotspurSpurs1051422111116
8Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton104421714316
9Fulham104331413115
10Bournemouth104331312115
11Newcastle UnitedNewcastle104331010015
12Brentford104151920-113
13Manchester UnitedMan Utd10334912-312
14West Ham UnitedWest Ham103251319-611
15Leicester CityLeicester102441418-410
16Everton102351017-79
17Crystal Palace10145813-57
18Ipswich TownIpswich100551021-115
19Southampton10118719-124
20Wolverhampton WanderersWolves100371427-133


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!