Mauricio Pochettino hopes Chelsea can take ‘advantage’ of the club’s absence from European competition this season.
Chelsea face Aston Villa in the Premier League this weekend as the Blues look to bounce back from a disappointing start to the campaign.
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Pochettino’s side have won just one of their opening five fixtures, ahead of the visit of Aston Villa to Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea ended last season 12th to miss out on European football for this season and Pochettino hopes the added recovery his side have enjoyed can benefit the Blues, against a Villa team who were in Europa Conference League action against Legia Warsaw on Thursday evening.
“It has been good to recover players from the international break,” Pochettino said at his pre-match press conference.
“The circumstances have given us time to work and we’ve had a really good week.
“It’s a time that, of course, for the fans is difficult because they are used to being in Europe but we need to take advantage of the situation.”
Chelsea have provided an injury update on their squad ahead of the clash and have confirmed that both Benoit Badiashile and Armando Broja have returned to full first-team training.
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