Chelsea winger Pedro has insisted that the Blues’ dressing room was never split after the Kepa Arrizabalaga substitution row, after the Spaniard was benched for refusing to come off in the Carabao Cup final.
Willy Caballero came in for the 2-0 win over Tottenham on Wednesday evening after Kepa refused to come off in extra time against Manchester City at Wembley.
The Spaniard was also fined a week’s wages by Chelsea on Tuesday.
However, speaking to ESPN after the win over Spurs, Pedro revealed that there was no split in the dressing room after the incident, despite reports suggesting that there was a notable disagreement between the manager and some players who sided with Kepa.
Pedro said:
There has been a lot of talk this week and that always destabilises [things] a little, but the truth is that in the dressing room we are together, as a great team.
We have not given much importance to everything that has been talked about and in the end that is the most important thing. We are focused on doing well in every game to get the three points, because from here to the end of the season they will be all finals and we will try to fight to be in the top four.
This was a great match for us to gain confidence and stay there [in the fight for the top four].
We have all talked to each other in the dressing room. We’ve also talked to Willy and we’ve talked to the coach. The truth is that we have solved all the problems and I think it has been a [small] incident rather than a serious problem.
It always serves to learn. We are with Kepa, with Willy and with the manager. This is the path that we have to follow. Now we need to get ready very well for the match against Fulham because it is another final.
Some reports have suggested that Kepa undermined manager Maurizio Sarri’s authority by refusing to come off against City.
Backup goalkeeper Caballero has previous with penalty heroics, with the Argentine helping City to secure the League Cup with several saves against Liverpool.
