Champions League: Raheem Sterling not ready to face Dortmund, confirms Chelsea manager Graham Potter

Chelsea broke the bank in the winter transfer window this timefor around half a dozen players but still haven’t managed to take hold of things how they would have liked. Be it for injuries or poor results across tournaments, the London-based club is yet to shine under manager Graham Potter. Meanwhile, ahead of the Champions League clash between Chelsea and Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday, Potter confirmed that Chelsea will miss services of England international Raheem Sterling. Sterling, who injured his knee during training last week, has joined the squad alongside other returnees, but will not remain contention for selection.

Chelsea’s injury list is long with some star players including winger Christian Pulisic, striker Armando Broja, veteran mid-fielder N'Golo Kante and keeper Edouard Mendy all on sidelines.

"The other players coming back from injury, Raheem, Kante and Pulisic, they'll just be working their way back at Cobham, (Chelsea's training ground)" Potter told reporters ahead of Champions League clash against Dortmund.

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While others like Wesley Fofana, Mateo Kovacic and Denis Zakaria have joined Sterling in the return training session.

"All of the three are in the squad so that's good. Like I said before, the previous game they were getting closer to minutes," Potter said.

As all four of them are added to Chelsea’s squad for Wednesday game, Potter feels it’s good to have them back training with the rest of the team, but it’s also important to prepare them for games to come.

"The challenge for us is to build them up and to make sure they're right from a gametime perspective but it's good that Wesley, Mateo and Denis are with the group," the manager added.

Meanwhile, despite struggling to deliver in the Premier League where they are seated at 10th place with just 31 points in 22 games, Chelsea has a better record to flex in Champions League – having won the past four matches. Up against Dortmund in the knockout Stage -who are yet to lose a match this year, Potter feels though beating them (Borussia) wouldn’t be anything less than a challenge, he and the whole squad is excited about the clash.

"Certainly, from the break they (Dortmund) have had a fantastic run. They're a really organised team that attack well, defend well and have got good individuals within there," Potter said. "It's the knockout stage of the Champions League. The absolute pinnacle in terms of the game. It's a great test playing against a fantastic club in front of 80,000 here, so a wonderful occasion.

"We're all looking forward to the match, we all understand the challenge that awaits us but are really excited about it," he concluded as quoted by Reuters.