Nine Chelsea stars to miss Sheffield United game as Mauricio Pochettino confirms injury list

Chelsea have confirmed nine players will miss the game against Sheffield United this weekend including left-back Marc Cucurella and goalkeeper Robert Sanchez. Mauricio Pochettino has also been hit by the news that captain Reece James is set for a long spell on the sidelines after his latest hamstring injury.

It's not, however, all bad news though with forward Christopher Nkunku returning to first-team training and likely to make his debut this weekend. Summer signing Romeo Lavia is also back in training and full-back Malo Gusto, who missed the last three matches due to a knock he picked up on international duty with France is also back in the squad.

Trevoh Chalobah, Ben Chilwell, Carney Chukwuemeka, Wesley Fofana, Lesley Ugochukwu and Noni Madueke are all recovering at the club's training ground.

Pochettino said he was sad with everything that was happening injury-wise. He told reporters: "It's sad but we have to wait and see how bad the injuries to Sanchez, Cucurella and James are. 

"It's not the best of news but we have to continue and assure them that we will be here to help them all the way. We have a lot of injury issues and it's like building a house and some of the stuff is not there but we need to keep believing." 

Chelsea have only won two league games at home and take on Sheffield United a side that has not won an away game all season. French forward Nkunku's return however is likely to lift the squad after four months out due to a knee injury.