Chelsea team news vs Middlesbrough: Pochettino without NINE stars for crucial Carabao Cup semi-final

Chelsea will face Middlesbrough in the Carabao Cup semi-finals without nine of their players.

Mauricio Pochettino‘s side need to overturn a one goal deficit in Tuesday night’s second leg at Stamford Bridge after losing the first leg 1-0 on Teesside earlier this month.

It was a night where Chelsea were left to rue their missed chances and Michael Carrick’s Boro punished the visitors with a 37th minute goal from Hayden Hackney to give the Championship side the advantage at the halfway point of the tie.

Pochettino has called for the team to transmit the energy onto the Stamford Bridge crowd and highlighted the importance of reaching next month’s final at Wembley.

He told reporters: “It is a passport to go to the final, to visit Wembley. It’s a really important game for us. We need to show that it’s really important for the club, for us, for everyone.

“We want to be in the final but first of all we need to beat Middlesbrough, a very good team that in the first-leg we cannot beat.

“It’s going to be tough like the first half of the leg. We are confident we can have a very good game in front of our fans at Stamford Bridge. We need to take advantage of playing at Stamford Bridge and the energy from our fans.”

However, Chelsea will have to complete the comeback without nine of their players due to injury, which the latest injury report confirmed ahead of the cup tie.

• Trevoh Chalobah – in group training for reconditioning phase.
• Malo Gusto – undergoing rehabilitation programme.
• Marc Cucurella – continuing to undergo his rehabilitation programme.
• Wesley Fofana – continuing to undergo his rehabilitation programme.
• Reece James – continuing to undergo his rehabilitation programme.
• Romeo Lavia – continuing to undergo his rehabilitation programme.
• Christopher Nkunku – continuing to undergo his rehabilitation programme.
• Robert Sanchez – continuing to undergo his rehabilitation programme.
• Lesley Ugochukwu – continuing to undergo his rehabilitation programme.

As reported by Nathan Gissing, Malo Gusto is suffering from muscle overload. Meanwhile, Christopher Nkunku continues to recover from a hip problem. He was spotted in Monday’s training session at Cobham but won’t be involved on Tuesday.

“No, he’s not available,” Pochettino said. “It’s a shame but he’s in recovery. I hope as soon as possible he can be ready again and help the team.”

The winner of the tie between Chelsea and Middlesbrough will face either Liverpool or Fulham at Wembley on February 25.