Chelsea were missing ten players against Man United, with nine including Nkunku and Fofana injured and Gallagher suspended.
Speaking after the 2-1 defeat at Old Trafford, Mauricio Pochettino insisted that having a lot of academy players on the bench didn't help. The Argentine made only two substitutions out of possible five.
"You could see on our bench there were many young players trying to help us. That is not an excuse, but we need to talk with the reality and that is the reality," Poch said, as quoted by the club's website/
"But we were competitive because we made chances and maybe enough to draw the game. But when the result is 2-1 you get nothing. I think we need to be calm and keep going, trying to help the players to be ready for Sunday.
"A few days ago we were talking about a fantastic performance and how we were going well. Today because we didn’t get what we wanted here, we cannot change what we say now.
"We need to stay calm and for sure try to help the team to improve and be more competitive and be more consistent when the players who are missing can be with us again."
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