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Football London
Football London
Sport
Tashan Deniran-Alleyne

Mateo Kovacic drops Instagram hint over Thomas Tuchel's Chelsea team selection vs Leicester City

Mateo Kovacic may have dropped a big hint about returning to the Chelsea squad for the crucial Premier League clash against Leicester City.

The midfielder has missed the Blues' last nine games across all competitions with a muscle problem, although he was reported fit ahead of Saturday's FA Cup final.

However, Kovacic didn't make the squad as Chelsea were beaten 1-0 by the Foxes at Wembley Stadium.

But Blues head coach Thomas Tuchel teased that the Croatia international would be involved against Brendan Rodgers' side at Stamford Bridge when addressing the media in his pre-match press conference on Monday afternoon.

"When Kova [Mateo Kovacic] and Andreas Christensen, maybe, come back into the squad, I need to figure out the squad and maybe eliminate two more players," said Tuchel.

"This is the worst day and the worst decision for me in the whole week because since I arrived here everybody deserves to be in the squad."

But does this mean Kovacic in line to retain his place in Tuchel's starting XI as Chelsea seek revenge on Leicester and to claim all three points to take a major step towards sealing a top-four spot?

That may be the case as if his social media activity is anything to go by.

Taking to Instagram, the midfielder has done his best to hype up the big game in west London which could suggest he's in line to start against the likes of Wilfried Ndidi and Youri Tielemans.

Interestingly, several of Kovacic's teammates including the likes of Thiago Silva, Antonio Rudiger, Jorginho and Ben Chilwell have done similar whenever they've been included in a Chelsea starting XI this season.

And they too are in contention to start this evening.

The Blues go into the game knowing two wins from their final two fixtures of the Premier League campaign will ensure they are playing Champions League football next season regardless of what happens against Man City on May 29.

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