Liam Rosenior has revealed Enzo Fernandez will not feature for Chelsea against Manchester City on Sunday, despite the midfielder apologising for his recent conduct.

Fernandez was dropped from Chelsea's squad for a 7-0 FA Cup quarter-final win over Port Vale last weekend, having made headlines with comments about his future.

During the international break, Fernandez suggested he could leave Chelsea after the World Cup and said if he could live in any city in the world, he would choose Madrid.

Rosenior said those comments had "crossed a line" and planned to drop him for two matches, but Fernandez's camp reacted angrily to him being sanctioned, with his agent Javier Pastore saying the punishment was "unfair".

At Friday's pre-match press conference, Rosenior said both he and the Chelsea hierarchy were prepared to put the incident behind them, but not until after Sunday's match.

"I had a really good conversation – I've had three or four with Enzo," Rosenior said. "He's apologised to me and to the club, and we'll deal with that after a massive game on Sunday.

"It's a serious meeting about something very serious. Enzo, every single step on the way, I've not been questioning his character, or who he is as a person. I believe people make mistakes.

"But you can't overstep the punishment for the mistake. We've made a sanction, I made a decision. What I want for Enzo is for him to go on and have an outstanding career.

"He won't play on Sunday. But hopefully after that he'll be a massive part of the group moving forward. There are still a few hurdles to be overcome that I won't go into. I want every player really focussed now on a huge run-in.

"Football is a team sport. It's not about individuals. There are certain values and cultures that I believe in that make the team stronger, if you get them right."

Fernandez has made more passes that have broken the opposition's defensive line than any player in the Premier League this season (41), but given he will be absent again, Chelsea must find another source of creativity. 

The Argentine's usual midfield partner Caicedo has been involved in 78 build-up attacks resulting in a shot in the Premier League this term, the most of any player for the Blues.

Chelsea are sixth in the Premier League table after losing three of their last four games going into the international break, though they have been boosted by the confirmation that England will have five Champions League qualification places for next season.

"I don't think a magician could make the team look how I want it to, in the time I've had so far," Rosenior added. 

"Any manager that comes in January – you have 20 games in 10 weeks. You're trying to get to know players, you try to make evaluations. It's difficult for anyone. For me, it's using the time as best as we can.

"I know what I want the team to look like. It may take time, but it cannot be at the expense of fulfilling short-term objectives. Qualifying for the Champions League is all we can focus on right now."