Thomas Tuchel revealed N’Golo Kante absence against Norwich City with the French midfielder deemed fit to play on Tuesday in the Carabao Cup against Southampton.
Kante had missed out on Chelsea’s rout of Norwich City in Premier League action over the weekend despite many expecting the midfield man to feature on the teamsheet for the Stamford Bridge outing.
Tuchel revealed in his pre-match press conference ahead of the midweek cup contest that Kante had felt his muscles in the build-up to the Norwich clash and had been rested as a precaution.
‘The game was too early.’
‘He [Kante] did the full training on Friday and after training, he said he feels his muscles a bit tight.
‘He went to the physios for massages and for some treatment and he actually wanted to wait until Saturday in the morning to take the decision. I said no, it’s such an early game tomorrow, the possibility that it will change is not so high.
‘I said take your time and it was simply one day too early. If the match would have been on Sunday he would have played. So he is fully available for Tuesday and for Newcastle.’
The World Cup-winning France international will be expected to get the nod ahead of Mateo Kovacic for Tuesday’s game at the Bridge despite the latter putting in an impressive showing against Norwich.
Kovacic registered two assists in what was a tremendous win for Thomas Tuchel’s men over the league’s new boys Norwich with a scoreline of 7-0.
