Thomas Tuchel is hopeful that Edouard Mendy will be fit for Chelsea’s key Premier League game against Manchester City on Saturday, despite not returning to training yet.
Mendy missed Chelsea’s 3-0 win against Tottenham on Sunday after picking up a hip injury during their Champions League game against Zenit Saint Petersburg last week Tuesday.
With the Senagalese goalkeeper between the sticks, Chelsea have only conceded one goal in four Premier League games this campaign.
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While Tuchel ruled Mendy out of the Carabao Cup game against Aston Villa on Wednesday, the German coach is hopeful that he will be available to play on Saturday.
‘Mendy cannot play, he’s not in training so far,’ he said at a press conference ahead of Aston Villa game. ‘Our hope is to Integrate him back into individual training hopefully tomorrow and then team training later in the week.
‘We will try to do everything we can for Saturday [vs Manchester City], but he’s not ready yet.’
The Chelsea manager added: ‘I think it’s possible [to play vs City], but it’s probably a race against pain and time, but I don’t know right now.’
Chelsea’s second choice keeper Kepa Arrizabalaga replaced Mendy for the match against Spurs and he, or third-choice Marcus Bettinelli are expected to start against Villa tomorrow.
The Spain international was delighted after he was able to keep a clean sheet on his return to the team.
‘This is very important, for all players to be ready. We have a lot of games to play during the season, across many competitions so it is very important for our players to be ready for the team,’ he said.
