Christian Pulisic insists he is back to full fitness and ready to play a full 90 minutes having recovered from the hamstring strain which ruled him out of the opening weeks of the new season.
The America international enjoyed an eye-catching first season in English football and emerged as a key component of Frank Lampard’s new-look side before he was forced off during the FA Cup final against Arsenal.
Lampard embarked on a major summer spending spree, recruiting the likes of Kai Havertz, Timo Werner and Hakim Ziyech to reinforce Chelsea’s already formidable looking forward line.
Pulisic made his comeback as a late substitute during a 4-0 win over Crystal Palace earlier this month and got further minutes under his belt against Southampton last weekend, while he was taken off late on during last night’s Champions League stalemate against Sevilla.
Chelsea travel to Old Trafford this weekend looking to kick-start their Premier League season having won just two of their opening five fixtures and Pulisic believes he is now ready to offer his manager a boost and go the whole distance.
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‘Fitness-wise I feel great, I’m getting back to where I was, I feel strong, I feel like I can play 90 minutes,’ he said. ‘So yeah, I’m happy. ‘
After some noteworthy defensive lapses in recent weeks, Pulisic was pleased to see his side record a rare clean sheet, particularly against such difficult opponents, but admits his team must strike a balance if they are to achieve a positive result on Saturday.
He added: ‘It was definitely a tough game, it was definitely kind of one of those where there were not a lot of chances in the game. We did a lot of good defending and we can walk away proud with a point today.
‘It’s everyone’s job to be behind the ball at times we have to help out defensively and I think it will give us some confidence today going away from the game with a clean sheet is not all bad. I think it’s not bad for the guys.
‘That’s the goal we’ve got to find the balance. Obviously we’ve got to create more chances and I want to help with that. We’ve got to find a way to do both.’
