Mauricio Pochettino's perfect response to questions of leaving Enzo Fernandez on the bench vs Sheffield United

Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino has denied he dropped Enzo Fernandez to get a reaction from him in the game against Sheffield United. The Argentinian was the one dropped to allow Cole Palmer play 10 and keep Mykhailo Mudryk in the starting 11. 

Enzo has been a mainstay in the Chelsea team since he signed for the club last January and the decision to drop him raised eyebrows. But Pochettino says he can only start 11 players and the former Benfica star was the fall guy.

He told LondonWorld: "There was not a risk as we tried to find a solution. Only you can play 11 players and it is a big competition and sometimes you need a certain characteristic. We saw the combination of Gallagher and Palmer but that doesn't mean we will do the same on Tuesday." 

Chelsea produced a dominant display to beat Sheffield United 2-0 with summer signing Cole Palmer first scoring from a Raheem Sterling cross before turning provider for Nicolas Jackson to finish the game. 

This was the perfect preparation for the League Cup game against Newcastle United on Tuesday night and they can go into it at the back of an impressive win and high on confidence. French forward Christopher Nkunku was also named in the squad for the first time even though he didn't get to make his debut today.

The expectation within the club is that he will make a difference and possibly save them from having to sign another forward in January.