Carney Chukwuemeka felt like he was in the verge of breaking into the team after his impressive cameo against Leicester, and he was unlucky that an injury over the international break kept him out of the game against Burnley and Manchester United.
He was able to come on as a sub against United, lining him up perfectly for a start on Sunday, if Mauricio Pochettino picks him.
Raheem Sterling and Noni Madueke are pushing for minutes too, which could be the only thing that stops him getting in the team. But on strength of form alone, Carney deserves a shot.
The Chelsea official website spoke to him to get his take on how an important late win over the Red Devils could help the team’s confidence:
“It’s a big lift,” Chukwuemeka said of the win, towards which he contributed by striking the shot to led to the corner his team scored from in the final moments of extra time.
“Of course, we wanted to win the Burnley game, but we drew. Now we have gone and beat Manchester United at home so it’s a big lift going into some big games coming up this month. That was the goal going into the season – to be back in Europe for next season and to win a trophy. We now have two big opportunities to do so.
“We will keep working hard to achieve that. We just now have to focus on the training sessions going into the next game.”
As well as a confidence boost, it’s also given us 3 huge points. But they’re worth nothing if we don’t back it up with another 3 against Sheffield United. Chukwuemeka is primed to slot in and show what he can do. We really hope that Pochettino, who has clearly likes the midfielder’s skillset and used him at the start of the season before his injury, gives the England youth international the chance he deserves. We will need to rotate to keep the attack fresh in the weeks to come, and at some point, we think Chukwuemeka is ready to grab the chance he’s given.