“We don’t want heroes” – Pochettino addresses Enzo Fernandez situation amid battle with injury | OneFootball

Mauricio Pochettino said Chelsea “don’t want heroes” as he spoke about reports Enzo Fernandez is playing through a hernia problem.

Fernandez has endured a mixed campaign and there have been rumours the World Cup winner may need surgery to fix the issue in the summer.

The Argentine returned to training this week having missed Monday’s win over Everton, and is available for the FA Cup semi final against Manchester City at Wembley.

When fit the 22-year-old has been ever present in the Chelsea midfield making 37 appearances in all competitions scoring seven goals and providing three assists.

Speaking before the Wembley showdown the 52-year-old was asked if Fernandez had been playing through an injury.

“Enzo has been training really well in the past few days”, Pochettino told reporters in quotes picked up by The Standard.

“He is going to be part of the team tomorrow and will be involved. We are managing the situation by conversing with the medical staff.”

The Chelsea boss did admit the midfielder had suffered with problems in the past, but was dealing well with the situation.

“Of course, yes, it is true that he suffered some problems in the past but he is dealing really well with the situation. We always assess him day by day.

“We need to protect him because he is a young guy, and the present is important, but so is the future.”

Pochettino was asked about the possibility of the former Benfica man requiring surgery in the summer and revealed any decision will be what’s best for the player.

“We are going to do what is the best for him”, he added.

“Again, we have experience of managing this situation. First, the most important thing is him as a person, not a player.

“It’s about how he feels and whether he is comfortable with the situation. We will all support his decision (if he feels he needs surgery), but we are not going to force him to do something.

“We are here to help and advise him of our assessment and experience.”

Pochettino added: “That is a tricky situation because the most important thing is he needs to be ready to perform at his best.

“We don’t want heroes, no. We want players who can perform their best to help the team achieve what we want.”