Graham Potter will manage his first game as a Chelsea manager and his first Champions League game against RB Salzburg on Wednesday at Stamford Bridge.
Potter will need a win to start his reign at Chelsea to gain the confidence of the Chelsea fans. The blues lost their first Champions League game last week against Dinamo Zagreb, which led to the sacking of Thomas Tuchel.
The new Chelsea manager has revealed that Chelsea duo N’Golo Kante and Edouard Mendy will miss the Champions League match against RB Salzburg.
N’Golo Kante was injured in Chelsea’s 2-2 draw against Tottenham and Edouard Mendy’s last game for Chelsea was against West Ham United.
What did Graham Potter say?
Speaking at a press conference ahead of Chelsea’s Champions League encounter with Austria Champions, Graham Potter said: “Edouard Mendy will miss the game, and so will N’Golo Kante. Both of them are progressing well but the game comes too soon.
“He [Mendy] has responded well but his knee has been bothering him for a bit. It might not be too long but at the moment he is not available.
Asked about the state of the Chelsea locker room about Chelsea’s summer signing settling in at the club, he responded: “The response has been positive from the squad. They are an honest, responsible group who have been positive around the training ground. They want to achieve and do well and I am absolutely happy with the squad, there is a lot of quality in it.
“I am looking forward to getting to know them better, I can only worry about things I can control.”
The 47-year-old also asked for support from the Chelsea fans as he hopes to earn their trust and support.
“I’ve always said the connection between the supporters and the team is the most important thing. I’m the head coach and a member of the team and an important member of the team, but no more important than anyone else. I’d love their support, and everything I’ve heard so far makes me believe I have that, and I’m very, very thankful for it.
“In terms of what I can promise, we’re playing a game which is uncontrollable, and so I promise I’ll do my best every single day. It’s a big responsibility. The team I want to see is one that’s balanced in terms of attack and defense; a humble team and a respectful team that, when it doesn’t have the ball, runs hard and fights because I think that’s important also; we want to entertain, but we also want to win.
“I’m respectful of the Premier League, respectful of my opponents, and there’s a lot of teams that want to do the same, but we want to create our own team, our own identity, so it’s recognizable, so the supporters recognize what we want to do, can see what we want to do and we’ll fight every day for it.”
