Why Madueke was absent during Chelsea match vs Newcastle

Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino has opened up on why the club’s winger Noni Madueke was absent from the match-day squad for the Blues’ second Premier League Summer Series fixture against Newcastle United on Wednesday.

The game which ended 1-1 in the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta saw  Nicolas Jackson and Miguel Almiron score for their respective clubs.

Pochettino revealed Madueke had a little tightness in his hamstring but the manager insisted there was no major concern over the winger, who remained in Philadelphia.

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‘Noni is in Philadelphia; he has a little tightness in his hamstring,’ said Pochettino. ‘It’s not a big thing.

‘We also took precautions with Thiago [Silva] and Levi [Colwill] and then we don’t have more possibilities to play with Angelo and Lewis [Hall] because we have three players in the same positions. We can’t play all.

‘It’s only Noni that suffers [with an injury] but it is something that we think can be sorted in the next few days.’