Fight and do not feel blue
TUCHEL URGES TAMMY ON
THOMAS TUCHEL revealed he has held clear-the-air talks with Tammy Abraham to convince him to never stop fighting.
The 23-year-old England striker has struggled for regular games since Tuchel arrived and an ankle injury has also troubled him for the past few weeks.
It led to Abraham being left out of the squad for last month’s draw with Manchester United and the Chelsea manager warned he would have to battle for his place.
But he is now fit and could return against Sheffield United in the last eight of the FA Cup tomorrow.
Abraham has managed just one goal under Tuchel’s reign – in the last round against Barnsley.
Tuchel, right, said: “We had some talks to encourage him to never give in, to accept the situation, to not overthink it.
“He just needs to be in the flow. If the team is winning without you, you can feel a little bit excluded.
“But it’s not like this with him, so hopefully he can be back now in the squad.
“He has never felt fully painless. It was hard for him to perform at
the level you need to perform at training to convince your coach to leave somebody else out.
“He suffers a little bit from me not finding the real formation up front. ‘OK, let’s play always like this, this is your position, these are the guys you compete against’. It’s more complex because I have to get to know the team better.”
Paul Heckingbottom has warned Sheffield United he will axe any slackers still feeling sorry for themselves.
The players were still reeling from former boss Chris Wilder’s sudden exit when the Premier League’s bottom team were thrashed 5-0 by Leicester last Sunday.
Caretaker boss Heckingbottom said: “I told the players what I’m wanting, where things have slipped, my expectations about how I like to work and what I expect from them.
“I have made it really clear that if someone is not at it in training, if someone is not giving it their all, they won’t play.”