Rafael Benitez says Marko Marin is still not ready to play a full match following the German’s recent injury problems.
Marin, who has been plagued by hamstring trouble since his summer move to Chelsea, started the Capital One Cup quarter-final at Leeds.
But he struggled to get into the game before being substituted on the hour mark and clearly lacked sharpness.
His inclusion came despite interim boss Benitez opting not to make wholesale changes to his side for the game.
“Marko Marin hasn’t played too many games and couldn’t do 90 minutes,” said Benitez.
“With young players and senior players, I felt it was better to give the senior players more opportunity. The young players will have plenty of opportunities to play.”
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This post was last modified on 20/12/2012