30 September 2023 , 11:50
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Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino has fired a stern warning to Noni Madueke after a video emerged of him partying while out injured.
Madueke, 21, has not played since picking up a muscle problem over the international break, missing two Premier League matches and the Carabao Cup win over Brighton. However, during his spell on the sidelines, footage appeared on social media of the winger on a night out after Chelsea's goalless draw at Bournemouth.
Pochettino was quizzed about Madueke ahead of the Blues' trip to Fulham - and he admitted the winger must "avoid" making the same mistake again. The England Under-21 international has scored once in three appearances this season, though he has not started a game in the Premier League.
"In my opinion, he is working hard to try and recover," Pochettino said in his pre-match press conference. "He came back from the national break 10 days ago. Now he is well. He is trying to be on the same level as the team.
"This video, we were talking about that, it's a thing you need to avoid. All of the players need to know that when you are a player of Chelsea, you need to avoid these things. It wasn't a big issue, but we need to avoid these types of situation. He is recovering from the national team and we will see if he is fit."
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Madueke could return to the Chelsea squad for the trip to Craven Cottage, which would be a major boost for Pochettino, who is facing an injury and disciplinary crisis. Nicolas Jackson is unavailable after picking up his fifth yellow card in six league matches against Aston Villa last weekend.
Noni Madueke was pictured on a night out while injured (Getty Images)Malo Gusto will serve the second of his three-match ban following his red card in the defeat at home to Villa. Marcus Bettinelli, Trevor Chalobah, Wesley Fofana, Christopher Nkunku, Romeo Lavia and Reece James remain out through injury, while Carney Chukwuemeka has returned to full team training and Benoit Badiashile is back doing some partial team training.
Speaking ahead of his side's game against Fulham, Pochettino said: "In all of the clubs, important players you always miss when they don't play. If that is the question: do we miss them? Of course. Always we miss top players, no? They're top players. When they are at their best, of course, they are some of the best in the world. I think all the teams would miss important players.
"You are talking about why not sign another Ben Chilwell and Reece James? Because there is only one Reece James and one Ben Chilwell. I think the club tried with Malo Gusto, Marc Cucurella, also Levi can play there. That is football. In all football clubs, when you have top players, it is difficult to replace."