Mauricio Pochettino will be hoping that Raheem Sterling can fire Chelsea to victory when they face Bournemouth on Sunday afternoon

Sterling sends Pochettino three-word message amid huge Chelsea injury update (Image: Photo by Harriet Lander – Chelsea FC/Chelsea FC via Getty Images)

Raheem Sterling has dropped a major injury update on Armando Broja ahead of Chelsea’s clash against Bournemouth this weekend. Andoni Iraola will welcome the Blues to the Vitality Stadium on Sunday afternoon as either side hopes to return to winning ways and climb the Premier League table.

Chelsea head into the tie following a disappointing defeat to Nottingham Forest at Stamford Bridge, while the Cherries will be looking to pick up their first three-points of the campaign after a draw to Brentford proceeded back-to-back losses against Tottenham and Liverpool.

The west Londoners have improved under Pochettino, but they’ve continued to struggle with injuries and finding the net. Broja could finally ignite Chelsea into action upon his return from the treatment room – which could be sooner rather than later following Sterling’s latest hint on social media.

“Back to it,” the 28-year-old winger wrote on his Instagram story, captioning a collage of pictures from training at Cobham. In one of the three images, Broja is seen completing a warm up exercise in the gym with Sterling.

The 22-year-old striker missed the remainder of last season after suffering a ruptured cruciate ligament in his right knee during a mid-season friendly against Aston Villa. Following an extensive rehabilitation programme, he finally looks set to make his return in the coming weeks.

While Pochettino may be inclined to throw Broja in at the deep end this weekend, the Chelsea boss has already insisted that he must manage the Cobham graduate’s reintegration carefully. He said: “We cannot forget him. We cannot stop him. We really believe in him – we know how important he can be for Chelsea.

“We need to be careful. I think it’s a big disappointment with the situation of Christopher [Nkunku’s injury] because he should be a really important player for us and to help Nico Jackson score goals.

“That is football and we need to accept that situation. Sometimes we cannot go for some player that maybe we already have. We need to be patient and adapt our squad and get positive results while waiting for Armando to be fully fit.”

Soucre: football.london