Mauricio Pochettino has played down any concerns over Reece James’ fitness concerns after he was substituted in the 1-1 draw with Liverpool.
The 23-year-old was exceptional in his first match as club captain, but looked in pain when he came off in the 76th minute.
James missed almost 50 percent of Chelsea’s matches last season through a variety of injury problems, and was the first Chelsea player withdrawn at Stamford Bridge against Liverpool.
However, Pochettino confirmed that he was just managing James’s ongoing fitness when taking him off:
“He was tired,” the Chelsea boss explained. “You need to see from where he came.
“The first thing we did when we arrived was to assess and analyse all of the players from the past. He was injured for three or four months.
“This pre-season was tough for him, we didn’t want to take any risk and that is why at 80 minutes, we wanted to avoid the risk.”
Chelsea dominated the second half but couldn’t find the winning goal, having drawn level before the breakthrough debutant defender Axel Disasi after Luis Diaz had opened the scoring.
Six players made their debut including goalkeeper Robert Sanchez, with Kepa Arrizabalaga set to join Real Madrid on loan.
Asked why Kepa was left out of his matchday squad, Pochettino responded: “He has to explore different situations and possibilities.
“Yesterday we were talking and for us the decision is to have all of the players that are committed to Chelsea for the season and that is why he was not in the squad.”
