Tuchel to Abraham: Just calm down and get fit

 

Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel has told Tammy Abraham to stop thinking about the the first team and focus on getting back to fitness after an ankle injury.

Abraham has been out of action since midway through last month. He limped off in the Blues’ 2-0 Premier League win over Newcastle on February 15.

The England man returned against Southampton, but was replaced at half-time against Southampton for tactical reasons and since then he has not been since.

Tuchel has revealed he hoped to have Abraham available for Sunday’s 2-0 FA Cup quarter-final win over Sheffield United, but the striker had to withdraw from training with a twisted ankle and so missed out.

And now Tuchel has told the former Bristol City man, whose future is unclear, to solely focus on getting back to full fitness.

“Of course, he needs to be fit, that’s correct,” said Tuchel.

“Then to take it step by step, through good training performances and to fight his way back.

“The way back is maybe for him to be a substitute and to be hungry and full of quality in training.

“These are the next steps, but now is not the moment to worry about the first XI, as he has been out for many games, unfortunately too many games.

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“It is absolutely not his fault and he is hungry to come back and he tries all the time.

“He tries all the time, but this is the risk to push the players back as soon as possible.

“It was an accident in training because we thought he would be in the squad on Sunday. So nobody’s fault.

Abraham has fallen down the pecking order of Chelsea’s strikers since Tuchel’s arrival in January.