The Frenchman picked up a knee injury at the beginning of pre-season and as a result, he has yet to make his first-team debut for the west London giants.

It was anticipated that he would return for the Tyneside trip but Pochettino has highlighted that the playmaker still needs more training sessions to be fit.

He said: "Last week he was only involved in a few training sessions, still it is not a full recovery to be part of the tactical session. Now is about recovering from his injury."

Chelsea have had a stop-start Premier League season and they have picked up only 16 points from their opening 12 games of the campaign.

The Blues need to find consistency over the festive period to have any chance of finishing in the top four to qualify for the Champions League.

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