London, Jan 28 (IANS) Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho revealed Wednesday that the cost of reaching the Capital One Cup final was a trio of injuries to Cesc Fabregas, Filipe Luis and match-winner Branislav Ivanovic.
Fabregas faces a race against time to be fit for Saturday’s English Premier League showdown against Manchester City after limping off in Chelsea’s Cup semi-final win over Liverpool, reports dailymai.co.uk.
The Spanish midfielder collided with Blues teammate John Terry at the beginning of the second half at Stamford Bridge Tuesday night and was unable to continue.
Fabregas was replaced by Ramires in the 50th minute and headed straight down the tunnel to receive treatment for a hamstring problem. Luis (calf) was also withdrawn later on, while goalscorer Ivanovic suffered a cut foot.
“Branislav was able to continue but the others weren’t. Filipe Luis came off with a calf problem and Fabregas reported a tight hamstring. Fabregas said he wasn’t yet injured but that he would be soon if he continued,” said Mourinho.
“I don’t want to think about fatigue. If we played two hours and lost I would be more worried. They are happy and when you are happy you can cope with fatigue. But obviously we played for two hours and we have to play Saturday against City, who didn’t.”