Pochettino provides Fernandez, Disasi & Chilwell fitness update ahead of Chelsea v Everton

Axel Disasi and Enzo Fernandez are doubts for Chelsea’s match with Everton (Picture: Getty)

Mauricio Pochettino has confirmed that Enzo Fernandez and Axel Disasi are both doubts for Chelsea’s Premier League meeting with Everton.

Chelsea find themselves under intense pressure as they prepare to welcome Sean Dyche’s Toffees to Stamford Bridge, with the club languishing down in ninth place after two draws in their last three games.

A host of injury and fitness concerns to key players have made Pochettino’s job even more difficult at what is a critical stage of the season and it appears the Blues could be forced to field a much-changed side in west London on Monday evening.

Ahead of Pochettino’s pre-match press conference, Chelsea’s official website revealed that midfielder Fernandez and central defender Disasi were both ‘undergoing medical assessment’.

Meanwhile, goalkeeper Robert Sanchez and forward Raheem Sterling were listed as ‘absent due to illness’, with Levi Colwill, Wesley Fofana, Reece James, Romeo Lavia, Christopher Nkunku and Lesley Ugochukwu also sidelined.

However, there was some positive news as Chelsea confirmed that Chilwell had made significant strides in his recovery from illness and it appears the England left-back could be included in Pochettino’s squad to face Everton.

Asked whether Chelsea had missed Chilwell in their last three matches, Pochettino responded: ‘Not only him, we miss other players. We miss the competition.

‘Chilly is training, partial training, and we will see if he can be involved in the squad on Monday.

‘It’s good news. But he hasn’t played too much this season.’

Chilwell has missed Chelsea’s last three games through illness (Picture: Getty)

Quizzed on whether Fernandez and Disasi could feature against Everton, Pochettino replied; ‘We’ll see. They are under assessment.

‘They have different types of issues. We don’t believe they are big issues but we will see if they can be available.

‘At the moment, they have not trained after Sheffield United and that is why we don’t know.’

Pochettino’s side are languishing down in ninth place in the Premier League table (Picture: Getty

Though Pochettino admitted Chelsea were ‘suffering’, he hopes his squad are able to ‘take the positives’ out of the situation, with the absence of key players opening up opportunities for peripheral players and youngsters from the academy.

‘It’s true that it’s a special season for us because we are suffering a lot,’ the Argentine added.

‘People are waiting for me to talk in the press conference because they know they are going to talk about that. We need to accept the reality and be positive with the players we have.

‘Yes, we need to accept the situation and be positive. If something happens, we need to take the positives, having the possibility to train with the young guys from the academy.’

Pochettino hinted that Chelsea could turn to the market to provide greater depth in the summer, despite the club spending in excess of £1billion on new recruits since Todd Boehly’s takeover.

‘That should be fair, no? To have a fitter squad to prove that we are a good squad and we can compete for good things,’ he continued.

‘At the moment, it’s not fair to judge players. It’s really, really tough when you don’t have the players fit to increase competition with them.

‘But that is not an excuse. We need to be positive.’

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