"It Is The Moment To Take A Risk,: Thomas Tuchel On Kovacic's Fitness Ahead Of FA Cup Final

Thomas Tuchel has provided an update on Kovacic's fitness after the Croatian was on the receiving end of a horrible red card tackle from Dan James in midweek.

"It's pretty surprising to be in the situation where we can try, and Mateo wants to try it – and the medical department gave the green light to try it. The 'advantage' is the ligament is torn already from the last incident [in the FA Cup semi-final], so there is no new injury, just heavy pain. His ankle was heavily swollen. We are hoping that maybe time is enough for him to make it. We will try in two-and-a-half hours in training, and we will know more about it.

"In the game [against Leeds], he was very, very good and, in general, he stepped up this season again with his game. The qualities of him and his personality we have spoken about a lot. His dribbling, carrying of the ball and driving with it is excellent. He's a top team player, why he played for many years for Real Madrid.

"He knows what it takes to put ego aside and serve the team. This is what he is. A fantastic guy, a fantastic player. We missed him too much this season due to some injuries. We missed him for several weeks. At the same time, we missed Jorgi and N'Golo (Kante), which cost us a little bit.

"Unfortunately, because he (Kovacic) is so ambitious, he has this injury before the FA Cup final. He was excellent against Liverpool lately. We will try everything and see you tomorrow."

When asked if this was the game to take a gamble on Kovacic's fitness, he said:

"It is the moment to take a risk, yeah."

He also shared updates on Kante's fitness; "He is also trying. He tried yesterday in team training and did, more or less, everything. Hopefully, there hasn't been a reaction.

"It was a reduced training session because of quite a long travel [after Leeds] and fatigue of travelling. It is not a high-intensity training session. We will try today with him. He is keen to make it. Hopefully, he makes it to training 100% so we can plan with him tomorrow, it would be good for us."

Source: Tribunal