Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino defended Levi Colwill after their Carabao Cup semifinal defeat at Middlesbrough.

Chelsea lost the first-leg 1-0, with Colwill struggling at left-back.

Pochettino later said: "Levi is a young player who can play in different positions. He played as a centre-back in the last game with Axel, and today we played Thiago with Axel, Malo on the right and Levi on the left.

"It's important for him to get experience of playing in the Premier League with Chelsea there, I think it's going to help him to be a better player and feel the competition. Levi is having a fantastic season whether he is playing centre-back or full-back.

"He is a player for the future of Chelsea, but at the moment of course when you don't win you struggle. We are a young team with young players, they need to learn and improve during the competition."

On Armando Broja not starting, Pochettino explained: "Armando came from one year injured and played a few days ago. He cannot start like a normal player, we need to manage him. In three days we have another game, he should start.

"It's difficult for a player like this to start three games in less than seven days. Then when he went on the pitch with Misha it was difficult for them to connect, to create chances, and in the end they could not help us to score or take a different result."