Thomas Tuchel claims it is ‘stupid’ to consider Chelsea as Premier League title challengers amid their current issues with injuries and Covid cases.
Danny Welbeck’s late header denied Chelsea a much-needed win at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday.
The Blues now sit eight points behind league leaders Manchester City, who extended their lead thanks to Phil Foden’s winning goal at Brentford.
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Just two wins in their last six league matches have dented their title hopes with Reece James and Andreas Christensen joining an injury list that has hampered Tuchel’s selection for most of December.
Assessing Chelsea’s title chances after the draw, the Chelsea manager said: ‘How should we be in it? We have seven Covid cases, we have five or six players out for six or more weeks.
‘How should we compete in a title race? Everyone else who has a full squad, everybody in training has the full power to come through this league.
‘We would be stupid to think we can do it out of Covid and injuries. Just play and everybody would be stupid to do it without 23 fit players.
‘This is the reality, this is where we are and we have to adapt to the demands of the situation which you are in.
‘This is what I am saying. I competed very hard for the win at Brighton at home. I don’t know what I can expect from my players in terms of physicality, intensity or minutes.
‘Nobody knows anymore because we have never done something like this. We play trial and error and see what I can do. I will protect my team. We can play better but we need the full squad over weeks and weeks.’
