Antonio Conte: 'Ross Barkley not ready to make debut'

Chelsea manager Antonio Conte has ruled Ross Barkley out of Wednesday night's EFL Cup semi-final first-leg tie against Arsenal as the midfielder is still not fit.

  "Tomorrow night I think is very soon, very soon for him," he told reporters. "But we must be pleased because his physical condition is good, and he has started to train with us, understand our football. "I think that we must be pleased, but he needs a bit of time to work on the physical and tactical aspects. His condition is good, very good. "I don't know when he will be back, it's very difficult to say now. But at the same time I'm very positive, because the player is a good guy, he's shown great will to work, great desire to help us very soon. And I think it's very positive. I'm very happy to have Ross with us for the rest of the season."