Mauricio Pochettino has said Chelsea must aim to win the domestic cups this season as the club look to secure a place in Europe.
Chelsea are tenth in the Premier League table after a disappointing start to their first league campaign under Pochettino, with the West Londoners in danger of missing out on European football for the second successive campaign.
The Blues have made positive progress to reach the EFL Cup semi-finals, however, and face second-tier Middlesbrough in the first leg of that tie in midweek.
Chelsea first face Preston in the FA Cup third round tomorrow and Pochettino is eyeing a place in Europe through the cup competitions this season.
“I think the Carabao Cup and the FA Cup are two competitions that we need to try to go further and to try to arrive to. But we need to do our run step by step,” the Argentine told his pre-match press conference.
“The first step is tomorrow, of course it’s a really important competition for us because we are not involved in the European competitions. Of course, in the Premier League, we are in a position that we need to grow and improve at if we want to play in the competition.
“Through the FA Cup, through the Carabao cup, we can achieve to play next season in Europe. I think it’s really important because only we had, from the beginning, three competitions and we are still in three competitions. We want to be in the three competitions.”
On the clash with Preston at Stamford Bridge, Pochettino added: “I think it is a good opportunity because different competitions allow us to provide to the team, maybe sometimes different players to use and so see how they behave and how they perform. I think it’s an important competition for us, the FA Cup tomorrow.
“It’s really important, it’s going to be the EFL Cup semi-final against Middlesbrough, and then the Premier League game against Fulham. But I think it’s so important, I think it’s in the way that we are building this team and the possibility to provide for the team and players good experience, compete at a high level at Stamford Bridge.
“It is a process, we are happy with the timing. I think we cannot be satisfied, we are Chelsea and the expectation is always to win. But if we analyse the process, I think it is a process that takes time. The evolution is in the moment that we need to be, for all the circumstances we are in the situation that we need to be.”
