MAURICIO Pochettino is confident Djordje Petrovic is ready to step up to the Chelsea first team following the recent injury to regular keeper Robert Sanchez.
Sanchez looks set to be out of action until the new year after being forced off injured near the end of Sunday’s 2-0 defeat at Everton, giving summer signing Petrovic his first taste of Premier League action since joining from New England Revolution.
The Serbian international couldn’t prevent Lewis Dobbin adding the Toffees’ second goal, but will now get the chance to impress with full appearances throughout the busy festive period, starting tomorrow against Sheffield United.
Pochettino said: “Of course I have faith in him and I have faith in all my players. He arrived at Chelsea because we believe he has great potential.
“He’s young and has come from different football in the USA, but after four or five months working with us, it’s the moment for him to step up and feel good because we have confidence in him.
“We trust in him, his team-mates trust in him and now it’s about making his debut at Stamford Bridge.
“We really trust in him that he can perform in the way we want.”
Petrovic will be pleased to hear he is so highly thought of, but there is no doubt Sanchez’s injury was a headache Pochettino could have done without.
The Blues boss said: “You are always going to suffer when you have an injury to a player who has been our number one goalkeeper so far, it’s always a player you’re going to miss.
“But we have another keeper that has been working hard to be ready if this type of thing happens.
“Of course I am very sad because we are going to lose a player maybe for a few weeks.
“We need to still wait and see perfectly the situation with Robert, but also with Reece (James) and Marc (Cucurella).
“I think from the beginning we are being hit with different circumstances.
“This one is an important circumstance but we need to be strong because the competition doesn’t stop and we need to be ready to compete.”
James has taken his own latest injury badly, according to the manager.
Poch added: “He is a little bit down because he was really excited to come back.
“How we built him back was perfect because it was step-by-step, first playing 20 minutes, then 30, 45, 60 minutes.
“We tried to build his confidence in a perfect way for a full recovery, so for him it is difficult to accept.
“He feels very disappointed, very frustrated, now we need to be careful in the way that we are going to talk, but also assess and try to find the best solution for him to be consistent and try to forget the injuries in the past.
“We are here to support him and to try to help.
“We are all thinking to try to find the best solution for him to be, first of all, as soon as possible with the group for a fully recovery, and then to try so that it does not happen the same again.”
