Eden Hazard might be back from injury, but Chelsea boss Antonio Conte doesn’t want to rush the 26-year-old who had been out for more than three months.
Conte admitted in his press conference today that Hazard won’t start against Qarabag.
He said: “Eden Hazard is in the group, is in the squad, is working very well to find the best physical condition. He needs a bit of time to continue to improve and to avoid to take stupid risks with him. But now he’s available and he will come on the bench.
“You know the importance of his player Eden last season played an amazing season. He’s a top player and we’re looking forward to have him in our team, in our squad. I think Eden is an important player for us, but for sure in this period we played without him and we were forced to play without him because of injury. We tried to win every game.”
Conte then revealed that deadline day signing Danny Drinkwater is also suffering calf strain and might be unable to feature in the game.
Speaking on Chelsea’s injury situation, Conte told the media today: “Only one news and yesterday Danny Drinkwater had a muscular problem in his calf. We’re waiting to check the problem. Only this.”