Graham Potter has ruled two Chelsea players out of his first game in charge as they prepare to face Red Bull Salzburg in the UEFA Champions League.
Chelsea are set to face Austrian champions RB Salzburg at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday in Potter’s first game as the club manager.
Former Brighton manager Potter joined Chelsea on a five-year deal last week after Thomas Tuchel’s sacking at Stamford Bridge.
Potter is excited to begin his tenure as Chelsea boss tomorrow but has confirmed he will be without Edouard Mendy and N’Golo Kante.
Mendy and Kante missed Chelsea training on Tuesday and Potter said: ‘Edouard will miss the game, and so will NG. ‘Both of those guys are progressing well but this game is coming too soon for them.
‘With Mendy, it’s a knee problem. It’s responded well to treatment and it doesn’t look like it will be too long [before he’s back] but at the moment he’s not available.’
Potter spent three years at Brighton, and the Seagulls finished 15th in 2020, 16th in 2021 and ninth last campaign.
On his decision to leave Brighton, Potter said: ‘The football club here, the history, the tradition, the size of the club and to compete in the Champions League, it is a completely different challenge to the ones I’ve had.
‘I had three fantastic years at Brighton, an amazing football club, but I’m very thankful that the ownership here has put their support and belief in me to work with the quality we have here, to be competitive and put a team on the pitch our supporters are very proud of.’
On the hectic start to his time at Chelsea, Potter added: ‘It feels like nine weeks or nine months, not nine days [since final game as Brighton boss].
‘The beauty of football and the beauty of life is you never know what can happen. I had some very intense conversations with the owners; firstly I realised they are good people who made a huge success of their life outside of football.
‘It is a really exciting project; it felt really positive. It has been a whirlwind, getting to know people, leaving Brighton, learning about the players. So far it has been really positive.’
