Former Chelsea star Frank Sinclair has slammed Blues goalkeeper Kepa for refusing to come off in the EFL Cup final and believes it could have led to Maurizio Sarri's men losing.

The Blues, who lost 4-3 on penalties after playing out a goalless 120 minutes at Wembley Stadium, saw controversy strike when Kepa refused to come off, despite Sarri having prepared Willy Caballero to replace him.




Kepa was struggling with what appeared to be cramp late in extra time and Sarri was ready to send on Caballero – but Kepa refused to be substituted.

Sarri looked furious, but eventually backed down and Kepa remained on the pitch.
 


Sinclair is hugely unhappy at Kepa defying his manager and refusing to come off, believing that the negative vibes the incident created could even have ended up contributing to Chelsea losing on penalties.

"He [Sarri] can tell the referee I want him off the pitch", Sinclair said on Chelsea TV post match.
 

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"I think he's made a mockery of the manager there.

"You can see by the body language. Kepa should have come off the pitch. Simple as that. There's no gray areas.

"He wanted Kepa off the pitch. Kepa hasn't come off the pitch. He's defied the manager and I think it's a massive problem.

"The dynamics of the team spirit after that could I think have affected Chelsea winning the cup", the former Blues defender added.

Sarri insisted post match that the incident with Kepa was a misunderstanding as he felt the goalkeeper had cramp; the Italian boss also claimed that Kepa was right to want to stay on the pitch, though he did not go about it the right way.