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​Chelsea boss Tuchel doesn't regret not resting Lukaku against Malmo

Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel has no regrets about playing Romelu Lukaku against Malmo in the Champions League.

The Blues picked up a comfortable 4-0 win against the minnows in the group stages.

Lukaku and his strike partner Timo Werner both came off in the game due to injuries.

However, Tuchel has no regrets about choosing not to rest Lukaku for the game.

Asked if he had regrets, Tuchel told reporters: "If I knew before I wouldn't have done it. But you can't know it before and it was necessary that he was on the pitch and he started very strong. I spoke with him about the situation, that I think he carries a bit of mental fatigue around with him. I think that is also normal but he is our number nine and is our reference upfront.

"The best thing against mental fatigue is a goal and we knew we could be the dominant team. We knew we wanted to build our attack today with Mason and Timo around him and him as the reference.

"I had the strong belief that in a Champions League match he could turn things around in terms of scoring and being decisive, which he did because he was super strong in our start. He took the foul and without him maybe it's not 2-0

"So I don't regret it. It's not a muscle injury or because of physical fatigue. He is a little bit overplayed, this is my opinion and maybe I'm not even right. But this was a moment to give him confidence and let him play. I don't regret it, things like this can happen. It was bad luck."

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Freddie Taylor

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