LiveScore Daily: Poch hails mentally strong Madueke

 
 

LiveScore Daily is here to deliver all the big talking points from the world of football throughout the day. Keep refreshing this page for the latest stories in bite-sized chunks.

Mad for Madueke

Mauricio Pochettino praised Noni Madueke's mentality after the winger came off the bench to secure a 2-1 win for Chelsea over Crystal Palace.

Madueke, 21, won a late penalty for his side after being tripped by Eberechi Eze and then stepped up to emphatically dispatch the spot kick.

The English forward has struggled for game time in recent weeks but Blues boss Pochettino complimented him for channelling his frustration in the correct manner.

He said: "He [Madueke] played free. He did what we needed in this moment.

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"I liked it because he showed he was upset with me, disappointed with me because he didn't play too much. [He thought] 'Now I?m going to show the coach he can trust in me'.

"We are not a charity, we are a football club. We need to perform. We are here to try and help the players to perform. Sometimes we need to be tough. We need to show the reality.

"Sometimes we need to put [the players] in front of the mirror and say, 'Come on, that is not the player that is going to perform'.

"We have an amazing group, but they need to realise that to compete at Chelsea is not [the same] as to compete at another club."

Read more: Madueke insists Chelsea were worthy winners

Injury updates

Pep Guardiola provided updates on Erling Haaland and Kevin De Bruyne as the superstar pair step up their recoveries from injury.

Haaland has not featured for Manchester City since their 1-0 defeat to Aston Villa at the start of the month after picking up a foot issue and is set to miss Saturday's match against Sheffield United.

Guardiola said: "Still he?s not with the team. He feels better but he hasn?t made one training session with us. Hopefully in January he can come back with us."

De Bruyne has been absent since suffering a serious hamstring injury in the season opener against Burnley but the Belgian playmaker is close to re-entering his manager's plans.

Guardiola added: "Last week he trained with us. Today he had a little bit of fatigue because he's training hard."

0_68mwtrl4Read more: Victory at Goodison puts the Pep back into Guardiola's men

Frank's got your back

Brentford boss Thomas Frank issued words of support for defender Nathan Collins after a horror show in the 4-1 loss against former club Wolves.

The 22-year-old centre-back left Molineux this summer and endured a nightmare 90 minutes against Gary O'Neil's side, handing them two goals with misplaced passes as the Bees slipped to a fourth straight defeat.

But Frank is adamant the Republic of Ireland international will brush off the criticism ahead of Saturday's trip to Crystal Palace.

The Danish manager said: "I told him it will never be worse than this, with a smile on my face.

"He's been a very positive player for us this season, he's performed very well for us. It happens.

"Tonight he will be down but tomorrow it's a fact that the sun will rise again. I expect him to walk into training with his head held high."

Read more: Hwang delights O'Neil as clinical Wolves run riot