Mauricio Pochettino explained his decision to leave Armando Broja on the bench as Chelsea lost the first leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final against Middlesbrough.
The London Blues continue to suffer a lack of consecutive positive results.
The Argentinian technician explained at the end of the meeting at "Riverside Stadium" why the goal was missed.
"Armando played after 60 minutes and we still didn't create many chances. I can't say it depends on one player or the other. Armando comes after an injury, which forced him to stay out of the fields for a year. We have to manage his return to the field well. After three days we have another match where he can play as a starter. It is difficult for a player like him to play three matches in 7 days! That's why he didn't play from the first minute against Middlesbrough", he said.
But Pochettino noticed another difficulty for the Red and Black striker.
"When he entered the field, he did not understand Mudryk! It was hard for both of them to connect, hard to create chances and in the end they didn't help by scoring or changing the result," he said.
Broja found the goal in Chelsea's victory over Preston, in the valuable meeting for the FA Cup.