Graham Potter addressed the media ahead of Chelsea's Premier League clash with Arsenal on Sunday afternoon.
Chelsea welcome the league leaders to Stamford Bridge in their penultimate league game before the World Cup break.
After bouncing back from the heavy defeat to Brighton against Dinamo Zagreb in midweek with a 2-1 win to finish their Champions League group stage campaign, Chelsea will be keen to get back to winning ways in the Premier League on Sunday against Mikel Arteta’s side.
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Potter’s side currently sit in sixth place and are ten points off of Arsenal, who have only been beaten once in their opening 12 games.
The Gunners are in hot form and with Chelsea’s injury problems mounting, the visitors will fancy themselves to extend the gap in west London and inflict another defeat on Potter.
Here's what the Chelsea head coach had to say on Friday afternoon in his pre-match press conference:
Ben Chilwell
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"He's going to go for a scan later this afternoon. He feels okay, but aware of the injury. We need to let the swelling settle down, hence the delay of scan.
"I wouldn't say (he) fears the worst. Until we get the scan, it's difficult to say.
"At the moment, we are hopeful and fingers crossed. It's disappointing, of course."
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang facing Arsenal
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"It's a big game, London derby. Two good teams, Arsenal are doing really well. The history makes it an interesting one for Auba. The past is the past as far as we are concerned. We are focused on the game and want to play well.
"He's looking forward to the game. He's been pretty normal (this week). Come matchday, I'm sure he will be pretty determined."
Matching Arsenal’s intensity
"Very [important]. If you don't do that in any game, it's a challenge. We have to be ready for the game."
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Extra 24 hours preparing for Arsenal clash:
"The fact that we are all playing so much, it's not that big of a deal. It's helpful, it's an extra 24 hours, we will take it. We are all used to the quick turnaround."
Returning to winning ways in the Premier League
"We know the job, the noise, we are disappointed because we didn't play well (vs Brighton). Good performance vs Zagreb, trained well and now we have to take that into Arsenal."
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Big week vs Arsenal, Man City and Newcastle
"We've got a big week. 2 league games, a cup game in-between. We have to focus on the next one, Arsenal. Try our best to win."
Opening two months in charge
"Objectively it's been a lot of games in a very short space of time, training time very limited. Getting to know the players, really happy with the response from the group, understanding them more.
"Performance wise we can do more and improve. At the same time, when you understand the mess of fixtures and injuries, we've done okay but room to improve on."
Pressure to keep good record vs Arsenal going
"Recently, it's not gone so well if I'm not mistaken, so we have to do better there. London derby anything can happen. We want to be positive, play well, get the crowd involved."
Raheem Sterling's form:
"Like us all, we can improve. But again, I don't like to zoom in on individuals. It's a collective challenge, that's what I'm responsible for."
Bridging gap to Man City:
"There's lots of things, aligning things in a better way - how we recruit, develop the football idea. We need some time in that regard because of the changes. A little bit of stability and clever recruitment to add to what we have."
Team news
"Kovacic trained today, so he's in contention. Carney has a slight issue with his hamstring that we are getting to the bottom of."
Kepa Arrizabalaga playing before World Cup
"No, I don't think so."
Topics: Graham Potter, Chelsea, Arsenal, Premier League, Football
Matthew Debono