Liam Rosenior accepted that unrest among Chelsea supporters had merit after a fractious start to the new year and promised to work to win them over. The head coach faced questions following an FA Cup third round tie in which Tosin Adarabioyo added a second shortly after the interval. Miles Leaburn halved the deficit from a corner, a vulnerability Rosenior had highlighted before the match, and Marc Guiu struck shortly after the hour mark to restore Chelsea’s two-goal advantage. Pedro Neto and Enzo Fernández added two more in stoppage time to apply a layer of gloss to the scoreline, yet the result did not silence travelling fans.

Chants against the club’s divisive ownership from The Valley’s away end were audible throughout the tie. When told after the match that supporters remained unhappy Rosenior said: “If your fans are happy, it means you’re doing a good job.” He added: “All I’m going to focus on at the moment is working as hard as I possibly can to help this team achieve the potential, the unlimited potential that it has.” He qualified that intent with: “And if you concentrate and focus on your work, hopefully people will see that we’re onto a good thing.” Rosenior himself “was not the subject of any ire (or notable support).”

The discontent centres on the owners. A recent poll from one of the most prominent supporters’ groups found that more than 90% of those surveyed expressed a lack of confidence in BlueCo’s decision making. The club’s current strict adherence to structure rather than established star power stands in sharp contrast with the Roman Abramovich era, when the club captured every available trophy under the stewardship of managers such as Carlo Ancelotti, José Mourinho and Antonio Conte.

After just two days on the training pitch with his new players, Rosenior has preserved many of the principles Enzo Maresca promoted. Hato tucked infield from fullback much like Marc Cucurella would, while the aggressive goalkeeper positioning that characterised Rosenior’s Strasbourg side was not imposed on Filip Jörgensen. “They’ve been well coached. I’ve made no secret of that.”

Looking ahead to Wednesday’s Carabao Cup semi-final against Premier League-leading Arsenal, Rosenior stressed process over micro tactics: “There are other elements to football other than tactics,” he said. “Tactics are one element. Shape, systems, technique, they’re all wonderful things. But there are other things that I feel maybe we can improve on.”

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta offered a guarded fitness update on Piero Hincapié ahead of the Carabao Cup semi-final against Chelsea, suggesting the situation offers “never a good sign” given recent developments. Hincapié was withdrawn during the club’s previous match and Arteta admitted clarity would come only by the following day. “Probably tomorrow we’ll know a little bit more where he’s at,” he said. “Obviously he had to come off [against Liverpool] which is never a good sign, but hopefully it’s not too much [time out].”

Hincapié’s absence left room for Myles Lewis-Skelly, whose outing raised concerns after a commanding 4-1 victory in which a quickly taken free kick eventually led to Arsenal’s third goal. The teenage fullback struggled at times against Championship opposition, ducking out of challenges and repeatedly failing to convince the referee that he had been fouled. With Riccardo Calafiori also an injury doubt, Arteta’s comments suggested Lewis-Skelly could be required again at Stamford Bridge this midweek.

Calafiori and Cristhian Mosquera remain in the treatment room alongside Hincapié. Asked if Mosquera and Calafiori might return, Arteta was blunt. “No, they are out again,” he sighed. He added a note of cautious optimism about their recoveries. “I think, pretty soon,” he continued, “they have to go to the last stage of the rehab. And if everything goes well, hopefully very soon, they will be available for selection.”

Mosquera’s absence has been softened by the returns of Gabriel Magalhães and William Saliba, the latter not needing to travel to Fratton Park. Calafiori’s missing presence has been felt more keenly. The fullback started the season strongly and, after injuries had seen him drop behind Lewis-Skelly previously, spent the second half of 2025 reminding observers why he cost £42 million ($56.5 million). Across Arsenal’s opening 15 league games, Calafiori produced the third-most shots in the squad, registering 22 efforts to Viktor Gyökeres’s 20.

For now, Arteta must balance short-term selection headaches with the hope that the sidelined defenders progress through rehab in time for upcoming fixtures.

Liam Rosenior moved quickly to calm concerns about the fitness of Cole Palmer and Reece James after his first match in charge, a cup victory at Charlton on Saturday.

Rosenior named a heavily rotated side for the tie, handing starts to Jamie Gittens, Marc Guiu, Alejandro Garncho, Facundo Buonanotte, Andrey Santos, Jorrel Hato, Josh Acheampong and Filip Jörgensen. There was, however, no place in the matchday squad for Palmer, James or Malo Gusto.

“Malo, Cole and Reece were precautionary today,” Rosenior explained after the win.

The manager, who took over following a spell with Strasbourg, said he did not want to jeopardise the players’ availability as the season reaches a congested period. “I don’t want to take any risks at this stage of the season. They had minor tweaks or knocks from the Fulham game. And I feel like I’ve got such a good squad here. I don’t need to risk their health at the moment,” he added.

Rosenior indicated the decision to rest key players was partly about preparation for the next fixtures. Chelsea travel to the Carabao Cup semi-final first leg against Arsenal on Wednesday, a tie Rosenior described as an opportunity to secure a place in the club’s first major final of the season.

After that comes a Premier League match at home to Brentford on Saturday. The Bees sit fifth in the table, two points ahead of Chelsea in eighth, having taken 14 from the last 18 available to them. That run makes the weekend fixture an important step in Chelsea’s pursuit of a top four finish.

“We have a huge game on Wednesday, we have a huge game on Saturday,” Rosenior pointed out, underlining the compressed schedule and the rationale for managing minutes in the cup victory at Charlton.

For now, the manager has framed the absences as precautionary and part of a wider plan to protect key players for the challenges ahead.