Chelsea manager, Graham Potter, has bemoaned the injuries to key members of his squad, ahead of Thursday’s night clash against Manchester City.
The Blues welcome the champions 19 points of league leaders Arsenal.
Potter, who replaced Thomas Tuchel in September, has admitted it has not been an easy ride for him.
He told Sky Sports: “You have to be stable, that helps. The situation we came into was quite extreme, in terms of the amount of games we had with the Champions League, and then we had injuries to key players.
“In the end you are trying to find a solution: How do you replace Reece James? How do you replace N’Golo Kante? How do you replace Wesley Fofana? These are guys that are key players for us. I don’t want to make excuses, it sounds like them. We need stability and we are working towards that.
“We need to be consistent with the shape and try and be consistent with the players we have. We’ve lost James and Mason Mount since our last home game. That is just the life you have as a football manger. That affects consistency.
“When you’re playing Saturday, Tuesday, Saturday, Tuesday, it would be nice to say we have 11 players and we’ll roll them out all the time, but that isn’t the reality that you have. You have to adjust, and of course if results don’t go well you get criticism for that. If you don’t change your formation and you lose you get criticism. It is what it is. You have to accept it.”