Chelsea manager Liam Rosenior has said that a decision is still pending regarding the team’s pre-match huddle ahead of their crucial Champions League last-16 second leg against Paris St Germain on Tuesday.
The ritual sparked farcical scenes ahead of Saturday’s 1-0 defeat to Newcastle when referee Paul Tierney became inadvertently trapped within the circle of players.
Rosenior reiterated his stance that the huddle is not designed to intimidate or cause annoyance.
However, he declined to confirm whether the practice would be repeated as his side prepares to face PSG, needing to overcome a significant 5-2 deficit from the first leg at Stamford Bridge.
“I think it’s been blown out of proportion,” he said. “It’s a small thing among many serious things that we need to address, such as the massive game against PSG.
“The lads have always wanted to show unity and togetherness, think they’ll continue to do that. But what we don’t want is to antagonise and bring more noise on ourselves. We’ll make the decision on where we do that on the pitch tomorrow.”
The former Strasbourg boss said he plans to meet face to face this week with the PGMOL to discuss refereeing, though not necessarily the incident with Tierney, with decisions that have gone against his team set to be on the agenda.
“I think it’s a distraction for the media,” he said. “The huddle was something the players wanted to show unity. They’re a good group. We never wanted to antagonise anyone or create noise.
“We have a huge game against PSG tomorrow. We have an opportunity to do something really special. We know we need to be perfect. I’d rather focus on that.”
Reece James is potentially facing several weeks out after injuring his hamstring during the Newcastle match.
The 26-year-old signed a new six-year contract on Friday but will be unavailable to Rosenior, beginning with Tuesday’s game.
Malo Gusto could also miss out through illness as the Blues look to achieve the improbable and recover the three-goal deficit to eliminate the European champions.
“Reece felt something in his hamstring at the end of the game against Newcastle,” said Rosenior.
“Really frustrating and disappointing one for us. We don’t know the full extent of that injury but he’s out for tomorrow’s game.
“It could be (weeks) with a hamstring injury, it’s never great. Hopefully we can get him scanned, find out the full extent then we’ll know more.
“We know what an important leader he is in the group. He’s our captain.
“Malo is ill today so we’ll have a look at him for tomorrow.”
Injury to James comes as a major blow. Tying the England defender down until 2032 was hailed as a major coup by the club and came at a moment when the worst of his fitness problems were seemingly behind him.
