Head coach Mauricio Pochettino has called for Chelsea supporters to ease their expectations of Christopher Nkunku.
The Blues were able to win the race for the RB Leipzig star, who subsequently impressed during pre-season before he sustained a knee injury in the final game of pre-season.
Initially, it had been anticipated that the versatile attacker would make his competitive debut soon after the November international break, but he is still yet to feature.
Nkunku was selected in a Premier League squad for the first time last weekend but Pochettino opted against taking any risks on the 26-year-old during the closing stages against Sheffield United.
At a press conference on Monday, Pochettino suggested that it was beneficial to hand Nkunku a number of days more of recovery with Chelsea holding a 2-0 lead over the Blades heading into the final minutes.
However, the Argentine added in his latest media briefing that Nkunku may be in line to play as much as 20 minutes from the substitutes' bench versus Newcastle United in the EFL Cup quarter-finals on Tuesday night.
That said, he called on Chelsea fans not to put pressure on one of their high-profile players at a time when Chelsea have struggled for consistency in the Premier League.
Speaking to reporters, Pochettino said: "My worry is to put too much pressure on him and that with him, we expect to win every single game, and to change everything. I don't believe it will be like this because he now needs time to recover his fitness.
"I hope he stars tomorrow and scores three goals and be consistent, but the most important thing is not to create too much pressure on him because he needs to find himself, feel the competition, then adapt in a team that was competing in the last four or five months without him.
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"That is why we need to careful because he still didn't make his debut in Premier League and we know how tough Premier League is for every single player that came from outside of England."
While Nkunku ended last season in fine form and contributed 16 goals and six assists from 25 Bundesliga appearances, he also suffered separate knee and muscle injuries during the season.
Although Pochettino gave a positive update on Nkunku, he revealed that midfielder Romeo Lavia would require more time before being considered for his own debut after an ankle injury.
Of the other absent players, only Noni Madueke has returned to full training and could make an appearance in the squad against the Magpies at Stamford Bridge. body check tags ::
