Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel says he has no fears over N’Golo Kante’s fitness ahead of Saturday’s FA Cup final against Leicester City.
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The Frenchman has been in outstanding form of late and won the man of the match award in both legs of Chelsea’s Champions League semi-final win against Real Madrid.
However, Kante missed Wednesday’s shocking home defeat against Arsenal at Stamford Bridge which blew open the race to finish in the top four of the league.
Tuchel, however, revealed the midfielder came through yesterday’s training session unscathed and has no reservations about him returning to the starting XI at Wembley.
‘Yes it’s huge,’ said Tuchel, referring to Kante’s impending return. ‘We took the decision between me, N’Golo and the medical team to leave him out and give him this Arsenal match to rest and have treatment for the right Achilles.
‘It was pain management it’s not a huge injury, it’s nothing you need to be afraid of getting bigger, it was just there and a bit annoying. He did all the training sessions yesterday, today, full. No complaints. ‘He will start tomorrow and very likely finish the game for us.’
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The blues will also be boosted by the return to full fitness of Kovacic who has been out of football action for five weeks but is in contention to play against the Foxes, much to the relief of Tuchel.
He added: It’s huge because Mateo has everything we need in the midfield: experience, power, can beat players, has physical ability and has played big games in the Premier League.
‘When we missed N’Golo and Mateo, we lacked a lot of quality, energy and experience. Billy did a huge job in huge games but it’s not fair to compare him to these players because they have more experience and are a step ahead in their development.
‘It’s big news that Kova is back because he’s a big guy in the dressing room around important matches.’
