Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino urged striker Armando Broja to step up in the absence of Nicolas Jackson for the side ahead of their 3rd round FA Cup tie.
Jackson, who has been Chelsea’ second-highest goalscorer in the Premier League, will be away on African Cup of Nations duty with Senegal.
With Chelsea also dealing with injury issues and Christopher Nkunku yet to reach full fitness, Pochettino is expecting the Blues striker to be more involved in things.
“Armando has the possibility to be more involved as he is one of our main strikers,” Pochettino told reporters, as quoted by Reuters, ahead of their FA Cup third-round match against second-tier Preston North End.
“Armando, it’s a possibility to play for him… Christoph (Nkunku) is not going to start tomorrow as he suffered issues during the week, but he is going to be in the squad. We need to be careful with him.”
Pochettino claims Carabao and FA Cups important for Chelsea
With Chelsea currently 10th on the Premier League points table, the Carabao and FA Cups seem to be one of the routes they could use to attain European football for next season.
The Blues are in the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup and will face Middlesbrough. Pochettino has urged his side to make use of both the competitions and aim for an extended run in the competitions.
“The Carabao (League) Cup and the FA Cup are two competitions that we need to try to go further… But we need to do our run step-by-step. The first step is tomorrow,” Pochettino said.
“Of course, it’s a really important competition for us because we are not involved in the European competitions. In the Premier League, we are in a position that we need to grow and improve at if we want to play in the competition.”
“Through the FA Cup (and) Carabao Cup, we can achieve to play next season in Europe. It’s really important because we had, from the beginning, three competitions and we are still in three competitions. We want to be in the three competitions.”
