Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino admitted his season has been impacted by injuries.

The Blues have struggled to maintain their form or a settled team amid various key players dropping out for weeks or months at a time.

Pochettino conceded to never experiencing such a campaign, stating in a press conference: "It's true that this is a special season for us because we are suffering a lot. I need to stop to talk because people are waiting for me to speak in the press conference because they know that I am going to talk about that.

"We need to stop and adapt. We need to accept the reality and we need to be positive with the players we have and the young kids coming through the academy. We are going to try and be competitive for Monday.

"Yes, we need to accept the situation and be positive. If something happens, we need to take the positive thing that we are going to have the possibility to train with young players from the academy and maybe they can step up and show their quality and maybe we have at the end of the season a surprise that can be good players and provide for Chelsea. When that situation happens, another door will be open. It's good for the kids to have the possibility to be able to train with us."

On addressing the issue, he added: "That should be fair, no? It should be fair to have a fitter squad to prove that we are a good squad and we can compete for good things. At the moment, it is not fair to judge players, I don't want to be wrong but it's really tough when you don't have the squad fit to increase the competition between them.

"I don't want to talk about excuses. I want to be positive. It's a good chance for the young guys to see very close and be realistic to prove they can compete in the first-team and be a Chelsea player.

"We need to take this opportunity and be positive. I think we need to take advantage adapting and see if these young guys can take the opportunity to step up."