Mauricio Pochettino refused to blame the poor state of the Soldier Field pitch for the knee injury to Christopher Nkunku that has rocked Chelsea’s plans for the new season.
New £52million signing Nkunku injured his left knee here in Chicago overnight and is a major doubt to face Liverpool at Stamford Bridge next weekend.
Nkunku was injured in a heavy collision with Borussia Dortmund defender Mats Hummels and is set for scans to establish the extent of the problem.
The dreadful playing surface at Soldier Field was an issue throughout the game against Dortmund after the stadium hosted an Ed Sheeran concert on Saturday.
It contributed to bad bobbles that affected both teams and Thiago Silva was seen moaning to Pochettino about the patchy surface.
But Pochettino insisted Nkunku’s injury was simply “bad luck”.
“The doctors are checking him,” Pochettino said of the French forward, who was able to leave Soldier Field without the aid of crutches after the game. “He feels something in his knee but hopefully it is not a big issue and he can be quick with the team. Now we need a few days to assess him and until we get back to London it is difficult to know.
“It is not about complaining. Always we take some risks because the pitch is not perfect and that is sometimes the risk of the tour, yes.
“I think it was a bit unlucky in the situation but we cannot complain about the pitch and blame the pitch for why he suffered the injury. For me it was bad luck.”
