Mauricio Pochettino explains why Robert Sanchez missed Man City vs Chelsea | Football

The goalkeeper had been passed fit for the trip to the Etihad having been sidelined with a knee injury for the last two months.

He hobbled off during the closing stages of Chelsea’s 2-0 defeat at Everton in December, with Dorde Petrovic taking his place in between the sticks since then.

In his pre-match press conference on Friday, Pochettino confirmed that Sanchez had recovered from the injury and would be in contention to play against City.

Though it was not expected that he would start what is a huge Premier League clash, it was a shock not to see the Spaniard’s name on the team sheet at all.

Pochettino has now confirmed that the 26-year-old has missed this game due to personal reasons and is looking to welcome him back for their next fixture.

‘We had hoped to include Robert in the squad today but after the press conference on Friday, it emerged that he had a personal problem which meant he could not be here with us,’ the manager said ahead of kick-off.

‘It’s not a big issue but it’s important for him to be at home today.’

Under pressure Pochettino has made two changes to the side that beat Crystal Palace 3-1 on Monday night, with Raheem Sterling and Levi Colwill coming in.

Noni Madueke and the injured Thiago Silva drop out.

‘The team I’ve picked I believe in and some of the decisions are circumstantial, because of certain players being injured and unavailable,’ the Argentine added.

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