Graham Potter addressed the media ahead of Chelsea's Champions League clash with Dinamo Zagreb on Wednesday night.
Chelsea have already secured their position at Group E winners to progress into the Champions League knockout stages next year.
After back-to-back wins over AC Milan to turn their group stage fortunes around, Chelsea claimed a 2-1 win in Austria last week against RB Salzburg to claim top spot.
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It leaves Potter and his side heading into Wednesday’s encounter at Stamford Bridge with nothing to play for, other than pride and looking to bounce back from Saturday’s damning 4-1 defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion in the Premier League.
There are four games to play until the World Cup break and ahead of playing Arsenal, Manchester City and Newcastle United, Potter will be keen to get his team back on the winning trail prior to the three crucial games.
Here's what the Chelsea head coach had to say on Tuesday afternoon in his pre-match press conference:
Team news
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"Kepa won't be available. Looking at days, not for the game tomorrow. Kovacic was just precautionary with his calf. Got a chance, will make a decision later on. He (Kalidou Koulibaly) will providing there is no reaction, he's available."
Edouard Mendy
"He's been great, top professional, very supportive, and was injured when we first arrived. He knows sometimes you have to be patient, work hard and support the team and Kepa. He's made sure he's ready. Now he's got the opportunity. He's ready."
Brighton defeat impacting approach to Zagreb game
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"We have to have respect for the competition and other teams. We have to prepare to win, we are at home, we want to finish off well. We want to respond from the weekend. We will pick a team we think can win."
Edouard Mendy giving goalkeeping selection headache in future
"You hope you have as many difficult decisions as possible all over the team. Then you've got competition and players pushing each other. That's only beneficial to the team."
Brighton defeat
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"It's never nice to lose, in the matter that we did was not pleasant. They came out the blocks fast, we didn't do that ourselves. Before we can talk about tactics, we are two nil down.
"We had a big chance to make it 2-1, then the game became more open than we'd have liked. In the end, we didn't do well enough to get the points."
Raheem Sterling losing form ahead of World Cup
"That's your opinion. Every player has times where it doesn't go as well as they'd like it too. It's too easy to zoom in on individuals, you need to look at the team and how they're functioning.
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"You have to help the team improve, then individuals can do better."
Playing youngsters
"It's not a time just to use youngsters for the sake of it. We have to try to pick a team that can win. We've used a lot of young players, they've been impressive. I've liked their character and personality."
Losing to Dinamo Zagreb back in September
"No two games are the same. You should never predict what the game will be. We are at home so we need to be the protagonists, try to create and be on the front foot."
Denis Zakaria:
"He's been really good, trained well, supported his teammates. Disappointed not to play, like everybody is. Up until the weekend, results have been positive. He's in the frame, in the squad, available. We will wait and see."
Under pressure after losing to Brighton
"In my job, you have to be careful what you listen to. People can talk, say whatever, it's part of life. When you're at a club like this, you're only 90 minutes away from 'crisis'. You have to put it in perspective and look at it as intelligently as you can.
"There's always people who will have a different view, you can't control that."
Topics: Chelsea, Graham Potter, Champions League, Premier League, Football
Matthew Debono