Graham Potter believes that Chelsea have made "a little bit of progress" in their search for Champions League football next season. The Englishman believes "there's a long way to go", and he is ready to "just focus on the next game" instead of the big picture.
The West London side sacked Thomas Tuchel earlier this season after a poor start to the season. Potter has earnt two wins from three so far, and he will be vying to win his first Premier League home game in charge.
Wolves are currently managerless after Bruno Lage last week. Graham Potter is unsure if it gives an advantage to his side, but he will be hoping to rub salt into Wolves' wounds.
Former Chelsea star, Diego Costa, will be returning to Stamford Bridge for the first time on Saturday. The Spaniard was a key part of Antonio Conte's title winning campaign in 2017, but Chelsea fans will be hoping he keeps quiet within the match.
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Team News
Wesley Fofana is set to miss the match against Wolves this weekend, after he sustained an injury against AC Milan in the Champions League. To add, N'Golo Kante is beginning to be integrated within the squad, but will not be available for the weekend.
Graham Potter added more detail to the team news, and said: "Wesley is not as bad as we thought so that's good, after the game of course we were concerned. It will be a few weeks I think but considerably better than it could be but we'll miss him for a few weeks. It's a possibility he plays before the World Cup. Depends how his rehab goes and don't want to put too much of a timescale on it, but there's a chance of that."
On Kante, he added:
"He's doing more and more integration with the team. Still not ready for the weekend but getting closer. It is what it is. There's nothing we can do, the injury happened and now it's about trying to get him back fit and get him ready as we can so he can sustain a period of play. He's been a bit in and out with injuries over a period of time, so we have to make sure when he's back, he's back for good. Strong and enjoying his football. There's no frustration, just something we have to deal with."
On Marc Cucurella, he mentioned:
"Yeah, fully recovered. He needed the time. He was on the bench against Milan so he's had more time for recovery, so he'll be involved tomorrow."
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A Returning Legend
On Saturday, Diego Costa will return to Stamford Bridge for the first time. The Spaniard scored 50 goals in 92 matches (Premier League) whilst at the Blues, which helped the West London side win the league in 2017.
Graham Potter believes the striker should receive a good reception from the home fans.
He said: "Yeah, I'm not sure, I hope so. Always for players who've achieved something with the club you hope that. It's not for me to decide. I'm focusing on the team we have and the support the other night was fantastic, so we're hopefully building on that."
"I've got a respect for him, for his career, what he's achieve. He's a Wolves player and he's going to come and be ready to play. Everyone at this club knows how good he's been and I've followed his career from afar and have huge respect for him and what he's achieved as a player. Like I said, lots of talented players at Wolves, especially the forward line. A lot of attacking players there that can hurt you, so we have to be ready."
It is unclear if the superstar will start. With Wolves being without a manager, it can be hard to predict the starting eleven. Graham Potter is unsure if this plays into Chelsea's advantage.
He added: "It's one of those things, I have no idea. My focus is on us on making sure we're ready to play. We haven't got a lot of time to prepare. You can't control the opposition's situation. You see the games in the Premier League, the margins are so small. They've been in games that they've narrowly lost. Historically it's a challenge playing Wolves, we have to be recovered and ready and positive and looking forward to the match."
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Changing Formation
Graham Potter has used two different formations in his most recent matches. On Wednesday, the Blues used a back three, which worked superbly well as they destroyed the Italian champions 3-0. However, against Crystal Palace, he chose to use a back four, which struggled to make an impact.
Graham Potter believes the formation can depend on the situations at the club. He said: "You always consider the opponent, you consider the players that we have. We had an injury, we lost Marc [Cucurella] through illness from Salzburg to Crystal Palace. One or two other things happening. Sometimes that can change how you go and approach a game."
"I think it's important to have a couple of options because the personnel won't be the same for the next 10 or 11 games before the World Cup break. It's a really intense period where it's important to have some options. I think we have to manage the balance between change and consistency. If things happen to be inconsistent always it can be destabilising."
The formation can be highly dependent on the success of the striker. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has started to shine for Chelsea, but Potter does not believe he has done much to help him find the back of the net.
He added: "I don't know whether I've done anything specifically, it's more we've just been working with the whole group and laying the foundations in terms of how we want to be. The better the team functions, the more whoever is in the forward line has a better chance of playing well and doing what he is there to do, which is to score. It's not the only thing he has to do and I think that goes a lot unnoticed because he does a lot of work for the team. We're happy for him, happy he's scoring and long may that continue."
Chelsea host Wolves at Stamford Bridge at 3 PM BST. Graham Potter will be looking to earn his first Premier League home win as manager, whilst Wolves will be looking to kickstart their season and jump out of the relegation zone.