Reds want semi postponed

The club-record signing has already said sorry internally at Chelsea and returned to training, but has now moved to address Blues fans personally.

The Belgium striker fell in hot water with Chelsea after telling Sky Sport Italy last week of his dissatisfaction at the club, just months after his £98 million summer transfer from Inter Milan.

Lukaku was omitted from Sunday’s 2-2 Premier League draw with Liverpool, but is now in contention to feature in tonight’s Carabao Cup semi-final first leg against Tottenham at Stamford Bridge.

“To the fans I’m sorry for the upset that I’ve caused,” Lukaku told Chelsea’s official club website.

“You guys know the connection I have with this club since my teenage years, so I totally understand you guys being upset.

“Obviously it’s up to me now to restore your trust, and I’ll do my best every day to show commitment on the training ground and in games to make sure we win games.

“And also to the manager, my team-mates and the board, I apologise, because I think it was not the right moment, also.

LIVERPOOL have requested the postponement of tomorrow’s Carabao Cup semi-final first leg at Arsenal after further cases of coronavirus within the squad forced training to be cancelled yesterday.

The request was submitted after the latest round of testing found more cases within the firstteam bubble, days after manager Jurgen Klopp and three players – Alisson Becker, Roberto Firmino and Joel Matip – were forced to miss Sunday’s 2-2 draw at Chelsea after testing positive.

A club statement said: “The Reds have formally requested to the EFL that the fixture is rescheduled after further suspected positive tests were registered among players and staff, allied to other factors impacting selection, including illness and injury.

“In response, the club halted preparations at the AXA Training Centre, meaning Tuesday’s firstteam training session was cancelled. Among the considerations which led to today’s application to the EFL is the need for travelling supporters to be given as much notice as possible of any potential postponement.”

Liverpool were without a total of nine players for the match at Chelsea and have subsequently lost Mohamed Salah, Naby Keita and Sadio Mane to Africa Cup of Nations duty.

The return leg of the semi-final at Anfield is scheduled for January 13.

Romelu Lukaku issued a direct apology to Blues supporters for his comments.