Mauricio Pochettino offers Reece James fitness update after Liverpool draw

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Mauricio Pochettino offers Reece James fitness update after Liverpool draw

Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino has eased fears over the fitness of right-back Reece James, insisting the club captain did not pick up an injury during Sunday's 1-1 draw with Liverpool.

James, who was handed the armband ahead of the current season, had an impressive showing against Liverpool but appeared to be in some discomfort before being withdrawn with 14 minutes to go.

Given James' recent struggles with injury - he missed 25 games in all competitions last season and 20 in the previous year - fans were understandably concerned to see their new captain withdrawn when he was playing so well.

Fortunately for Chelsea supporters, Pochettino stressed that James has not picked up an injury and was simply battling fatigue after a shortened pre-season.

"He was tired," Pochettino said of his captain. "You need to see from where he came. The first thing we did when we arrived was to assess and analyse all of the players from the past. He was injured for three or four months.

"This pre-season was tough for him, we didn’t want to take any risk and that is why at 80 minutes, we wanted to avoid the risk."

Pochettino is already dealing with a number of fitness concerns in defence as centre-back trio Benoit Badiashile, Trevoh Chalobah and Wesley Fofana are all currently sidelined.

Fofana will miss the majority of the campaign after undergoing knee surgery but fans were blessed with a recent update on Badiashile, who has returned to light training after overcoming a hamstring problem.

At the other end of the pitch, Christopher Nkunku will likely not be seen again until 2024 as he battles his own knee issue but winger Noni Madueke, who missed pre-season with a hamstring issue, was back on the bench against Liverpool.

Striker Armando Broja, who damaged his ACL in December, is still working on a comeback.