The striker, who had just joined the team from RB Leipzig in the summer, was out for most of the first half of the season with a catastrophic knee ιnjury.

After an anxiously anticipated debut in the EFL Cup quarterfinal versus Newcastle United, Nkunku scored in his Premier League debut at Wolverhampton Wanderers.

The Nkunku returned to action after missing Sunday’s FA Cup third-round victory over Preston North End with a hip ιnjury, but they did make two additional appearances.

Nkunku will need to be evaluated before Saturday’s West London derby against Fulham, as Pochettino revealed in Monday’s press conference, as he is still out due to ιnjury.

Coach Pochettino informed the press that the issue was separate from his previous ιnjury. The problem is with his hip, not his knee.

Now that he’s been hurt for six months, we need to be extra careful with him. We are being cautious now, so he won’t play in tomorrow’s game and Saturday’s game as well. He did play in a couple of games.

We will proceed with caution around him until we know when he returns. He is now not training while he recovers from a minor ιnjury; we hope this won’t be an extended absence.

The Chelsea manager also gave an update on goalkeeper Robert Sanchez’s ιnjury status; Sanchez hasn’t played since sustaining a knee ιnjury in the team’s December 10 loss to Everton.

“We just saw him, he came for another scan,” Pochettino added. The scan is necessary for the physicians to decide whether to continue with his evolution or to keep him out of training for a bit longer.

After his scan this morning, we should have a good idea today. He is not going to require surgery; what matters is his rate of improvement as he moves from treatment to playing in games.

Wesley Fofana, Trevoh Chalobah, Benoit Badiashile, Reece James, Marc Cucurella, Ben Chilwell, Romeo Lavia, Carney Chukwuemeka, and Lesley Ugochukwu are all out for Chelsea along with Nkunku and Sanchez.

Another player not present is 22-year-old forward Nicolas Jackson of Senegal, who will be competing for his nation at the forthcoming African Cup of Nations.

On Tuesday, Chelsea will travel to the Riverside Stadium to take on Middlesbrough. On January 23, they will return to Stamford Bridge for the second leg.