Chelsea undecided on pre-match huddle against Paris Saint-Germain after Paul Tierney incident as Liam Rosenior explains extent of Reece James injury

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Liam Rosenior has had to deal with a number of stories leading up to Chelsea's UEFA Champions League last 16 second leg against PSG, live on TNT Sports and discovery+. The Blues boss said his side were still deciding where to hold their pre-match huddle after Paul Tierney was caught in its midst on Saturday. Rosenior also offered an update on Reece James after his captain injured his hamstring.

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Liam Rosenior has admitted that Chelsea are yet to make a decision on whether to repeat their pre-match huddle in the centre circle against Paris Saint-Germain.

The Blues' routine ahead of their Premier League clash against Newcastle United made the headlines on Saturday when referee Paul Tierney was caught in the middle of their team talk.

All eyes will be on Stamford Bridge on Tuesday evening, when Rosenior's side welcome PSG to west London in their UEFA Champions League last 16 second leg - live on TNT Sports and discovery+.

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Chelsea's manager said the fallout from the incident was "blown out of proportion" and believed his side would continue to perform the huddle, though where it will take place is still to be decided.

"I think in terms of the huddle," said Rosenior in his pre-match press conference. "I think it's been blown out of proportion to be honest. It's a small, small thing amongst many, many serious things that we need to address, such as a massive game against PSG tomorrow.

"In terms of the huddle, the lads have always wanted to show unity and togetherness. I think they will continue to do that. What we don't want to do is antagonise or bring noise on ourselves. And we'll make the decision on where we do that on the pitch tomorrow."

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And while Rosenior said he and his side wish to avoid creating "noise", he denied that it had become a distraction in the dressing room.

"I think it's a distraction for the media. For us, the huddle was something the players wanted to show unity. They are a good group," said Rosenior.

"We never wanted to antagonise anyone or create noise. The time to talk about it has stopped. We have a huge game against PSG tomorrow.

"We have an opportunity to do something really, really special. We know we need to be perfect, and I would rather focus on that."

With Chelsea trailing PSG 5-2 on aggregate and having suffered a 1-0 defeat to Newcastle at the weekend, Rosenior was disappointed to lose his club captain Reece James to injury.

The 41-year-old confirmed that the hamstring issue could be serious, with worries high for the England international, who has suffered eight such injuries across his career.

Rosenior said: "It could be [serious]. With a hamstring injury, it's never great. And for Reece, hopefully we can just get him scanned, we can find out the full extent and then we know more. Because obviously we know what an important player he is, what an important leader he is in the group."

There was good news with the potential return of winger Estevao, who Rosenior assured would be assessed on Tuesday, while Malo Gusto could also be in contention despite contracting an illness.

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And there was no significant punishment handed down to Pedro Neto after the Portugal international was given no more than a warning for pushing a ball boy.

"Fantastic," Rosenior reacted to the news. "He's a top player. He's apologised for the incident in Paris. There was no real bad intention from him. He wanted to get on with the game and I think UEFA have made the right decision."

However, Chelsea were fined £10.75 million and given a suspended transfer ban for making unregistered historical payments, another story that Rosenior deemed "not a negative distraction".

"No, it's not a negative distraction," he said. "I think actually that's a line drawn through that issue. We can move on and we can plan to make this club as strong as possible in the long term.

"That's the idea from the ownership, myself and everybody involved with the club."

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