Romelu Lukaku's "tough" Chelsea situation assessed by Cesar Azpilicueta after Lille blow

Cesar Azpilicueta has backed Romelu Lukaku to come through his “tough period” and prove his worth at Chelsea.

Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel dropped the £97.5m striker for the Champions League last-16 tie with Lille after Lukaku’s poor run of form.

Lukaku touched the ball just seven times in the whole 90 minutes at Crystal Palace last weekend and lost his place to Kai Havertz - and the Belgium star could now miss the Carabao Cup final on Sunday.

But Chelsea captain Azpilicueta is convinced that Lukaku is good enough and has a strong enough personality to come back from his latest setback.

It has been a difficult season back at Chelsea for Lukaku who has struggled for form, fitness, a lack of goals and upset the club by giving an interview in which he said he wanted to go back to Italy.

Azpilicueta said: “Yes, I have no doubts that Romelu will show his qualities for the team. He’s having a tough period.

“But we cannot forget also that he scored two goals in the Club World Cup, in the semi-final and the final, so you know high-level players, we go through tough moments but we cannot forget also that he played a big role in the Club World Cup.

“Of course, Romelu is the first one who wants to give more for the team.

"Every player has their problems when you can be at your best or not, but I have no doubt that Romelu is a very important player.

“The manager makes his decision, the best for every game, so tonight he didn’t play but I know that now preparing for the final; every player will have a chance and we have to show that we deserve to be there and then the manager will make the best decision for the team.”