Mauricio Pochettino has explained why injuries forced Marc Cucurella, Reece James, and Robert Sanchez off the field during our 2-0 loss to Everton.

In the 27th minute of this afternoon’s game at Goodison Park, Levi Colwill had to take Reece James’ position.

As Ian Maatsen replaced Marc Cucurella in the second half, Djordje Petrovic, who had joined Chelsea in the summer after moving from New England Revolution, eventually replaced Robert Sanchez, who had taken a hit early in the second half.

Reece sensed a sensation in his hamstring. Before talking about why the Blues were dealt such a severe blow when their skipper was sidelined, Pochettino stated: “Reece felt something in his hamstring. For sure he’s injured, but we don’t know how serious it is.

“Of course for us he is an important player, one of the best full-backs in the world. It is really disappointing because after 15 or 20 minutes we were playing well and I think this type of circumstance makes us change, because of course Malo Gusto is recovering from his injury.

“We hadn’t given away many chances and then you need to move things to make some changes. Even when Reece went off the team was pushing and playing well.

“But we are disappointed because when you believe you can build something and a player like him who should be really important for us can’t help the team. We go back and assess again in the next few days what is going on with his hamstring.”

Pochettino also revealed why the Spanish duo Sanchez and Cucurella had to leave the pitch in the second half.

“Robert Sanchez suffered a problem at Manchester United, it was an issue with his knee. He felt something during the second half, that is why he asked for the change. We must hope it is not a big issue.

“That is the same for Marc Cucurella, who twisted his ankle. We hope that these issues are not big. These are the circumstances we have been dealing with since the start and it is too much for a young team that needs to have all the elements together if we want to build something solid.’