Former Chelsea player Joe Cole says he was “very surprised” to see that Benoit Badiashile was left out of the Champions League squad by manager Graham Potter.

Despite starting the last four games, the £35m signing won’t be available for the two legs against Borussia Dortmund and Cole feels the defender could have played an important role:

“I was very surprised he (Badiashile) was left out. He looks absolutely superb. He looks like he was made to play with Thiago [Silva].”

UEFA rules mean the Blues were only able to register three new players for the knockout stages. Potter included Mykhailo Mudryk, Enzo Fernandez and Joao Felix, which are three selections that few Chelsea supporters will argue with.

It was undoubtedly a very difficult decision, though. In addition to Badiashile, Noni Madueke was also left out, while Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was actually removed from the squad.

You don’t envy Potter in terms of squad management. There are likely to be a number of unhappy players around the first team at the moment and he will need to handle things carefully.