Chelsea captain, Reece James, has addressed swirling reports suggesting he’s nursing an injury, firmly stating he’s fit and ready to feature in Sunday’s Club World Cup final against Paris Saint-Germain.
James was listed in the squad for Chelsea’s quarter-final clash in Philadelphia last Friday but was withdrawn after the warm-up.
The right-back has now explained the reason behind his absence, insisting it was purely precautionary.
“Just to be clear, I wasn’t injured so let’s put that to bed,” James clarified. “I wasn’t feeling so good in the warm-up, with my history.
“I could have played but it was a warning. It would have been ‘why did I not listen?’ (if I got injured), so I decided not to take an unnecessary risk.”
Chelsea are set to face a red-hot PSG side that has swept aside top English clubs en route to the final in New York.
Many have pegged the French champions as favourites, but James remains undaunted and optimistic about his team’s chances.
“But I have been in finals where I have played for the favourites and not come out on top, so this doesn’t mean much to me and I don’t care, to be honest, that everyone is ‘bigging up’ our opposition.
“PSG have beaten all the English teams, they have an amazing team, but we have an amazing team and have surprised a lot of people.
“We’ve come a long way on our journey from where we started. We are preparing right and going there to win.
“I believe we will go toe-to-toe. Stats, data, favourites and not favourites don’t mean anything to our team.”
Chelsea will be aiming to cap off their Club World Cup campaign with a statement performance and a coveted title, as James looks set to lead from the front.
