Mauricio Pochettino claimed during his Friday pre-match press conference, that he was told by Moises Caicedo that Brighton were beaten by Middlesbrough during last season’s FA Cup clash between the two clubs.

The Argentine made the claim while addressing questions from reporters about how Chelsea fared when they met Michael Carrick’s side in the third round of the tournament on Tuesday.

The Blues were beaten 1-0 by Boro, who ensured that the visitors couldn’t score a single goal going into the return leg at Stamford Bridge.

Pochettino told reporters on Friday: “It’s the first half. Because after only 90 minutes we are losing. If you see how many Premier League teams have gone out of cup competitions to Middlesbrough. [Moises] Caicedo was telling me ‘oh we lost last season to Middlesbrough with Brighton’.

“Many Premier League teams when they play in the cup there, they lose. It is the first leg. We are disappointed though. We are Chelsea, we can’t afford these types of games. But it is important to realise we are still alive.”

We understand that Pochettino (and possibly Caicedo) was trying to play down the gravity of Chelsea’s defeat to Boro earlier in the week, but it probably would have been easier if the coach didn’t bring Brighton into the equation because it turns out that his claim about the Seagulls was inaccurate.

Brighton not only beat Middlesbrough 5-1 at the Riverside stadium when they met in the FA Cup last season, they have actually not lost against the Championship club since 2015.

It is a lot easier to just accept that Chelsea didn’t do well on Tuesday and move on, rather complicate matters further by making references that have no truth in them.