Conte insists Luiz must play against Atletico despite broken wrist

 

Antonio Conte has challenged David Luiz to play through his broken wrist injury and help Chelsea beat Atletico Madrid in the Champions League next week.

The Brazilian defender landed awkwardly on the hoardings at Stamford Bridge during the goalless draw against Arsenal on Saturday and sustained a fairly serious wrist injury.

Luiz refused to be taken off, however, and played on before being shown a straight red card for a late challenge on Sead Kolasinac.

The 30-year-old is believed to have rejoined his teammates at Cobham for training and is prepared to play through his injury while wearing a splint.

Asked whether his defender would be available for next Wednesday’s Champions League clash in the Spanish capital, Conte smiled before saying: ‘He must be okay, he must be okay.

‘He is an important player for us. For sure, I know what happened at the end of the first half [against Arsenal], for sure he will be ready for the game against Atletico.’

The Italian boss was speaking after the Blues progressed to the fourth round of the Carabao Cup with a 5-1 win over Nottingham Forest.

Brazilian wing-back Kenedy opened the scoring for the Premier League champions before Michy Batshuayi doubled the hosts’ advantage after being offered a rare start.

Charly Musonda made it 3-0 with a goal on his full debut before Belgium international Batshuayi completed his hat-trick with two second-half strikes.

We must be pleased for the performance, we won the game,’ Conte said. ‘We play in the next round, this is positive for us.http://metro.co.uk