Chelsea have been dealt a major injury blow ahead of this weekend's clash against Wolves on Sunday afternoon, with Enzo Fernandez missing the clash due to a hernia issue
Enzo Fernandez has broken his silence after Mauricio Pochettino confirmed that the midfielder will miss Chelsea's clash against Wolves on Christmas Eve. The 22-year-old looked distraught following the Blues' win over Newcastle United in the Carabao Cup quarter-final after he asked to be substituted in the first-half.
Armando Broja replaced Fernandez shortly after the half-hour mark on Tuesday night and, after beelining for the changing rooms, the Argentina international was spotted teary-eyed at full-time. Pochettino attributed the Chelsea star's woes to illness on the night, but it has since been revealed that he's nursing a hernia.
Ahead of the west Londoners' visit to Molineux on Sunday afternoon, the Blues manager said: "Enzo is going to be out of the game against Wolverhampton. We are going to see if he can be involved again as soon as possible.
"You already have the information that it was a hernia and he also didn’t feel well. We are going to give treatment with the doctor. For me, it is not going to be a problem I think he is going to be as soon as possible again with the group."
Following confirmation of his injury, Fernandez has posted a cryptic message on social media. Taking to his Instagram story, the Argentine posted a black and white image of himself with the caption: "[Half-full hour glass emoji]['Soon' emoji]."
While he may have simply just selected the half-full 'hour glass' emoji by chance, rather than the full 'hour-glass' emoji, Fernandez could be implying that he's already halfway back on his journey to match fitness. But, that remains to be seen and Chelsea will be without the midfielder against Wolves.
When asked if Romeo Lavia will make his debut against Gary O'Neil's side in Fernandez's absence, Pochettino said: "You guys are pushing with the players who are not playing. Lavia is in a similar position to [Christopher] Nkunku, you know? He arrived and never can make his debut.
"After nearly six months, maybe he will be involved with the team. He is doing well but he still needs time to get his best form. He’s desperate to make his debut and he’s pushing. But I want to make clear, with the players with a big period off, you know, out of the competition, they are desperate to be involved.
"But they cannot make the mistake. They can be involved – but in which way? In which form? At what level? It’s easy to say, ‘I want to play’, but we are competing. This is a serious competition. After six months, like Nkunku, like him [Lavia], they need to understand they need to be involved, to train really, really hard every day.
"They need to be an impact every time they go to the pitch. It’s not to say we are in a pre-season game and they go to the pitch and we say, ‘if they perform well, if they don’t perform well, then no problem’, because six months. For many things it is an excuse.
"For many things, ‘I want to play. If I don’t have time I can’t perform, but in the same time, to play with that’. You need to understand, the players need to understand that that is not a charity thing; that we are going to play football, we need to win."