Chelsea are having an injury crisis | Credit: IMAGO / Pro Sports Images
Chelsea return to the Premier League at home against Brighton & Hove Albion after a Carabao Cup win against Lincoln City in midweek. The Blues have only won two of their five league games so far, and injuries and suspensions lately haven't done Enzo Maresca any favors.
Ahead of Saturday's game against Brighton, Maresca was asked about the fitness status of Cole Palmer and some of the others. About Palmer, he said:
“We decided to protect him a little because of the injury. He’ll rest for the next two or three weeks, probably until the international break, to see if he can recover 100% and be completely fit afterward. “I don’t think he needs surgery. It’s just a matter of managing the pain in his groin, which can happen with the amount of games we play.”
Regarding the other players, he said:
“Wes Fofana had a concussion the other day against Lincoln. The rest are all okay, apart from the longer-term injuries. Romeo and Benoît are doing better — we’ll see if they can join us tomorrow.”
Robert Sanchez will return from suspension after his red card against Manchester United last weekend, and Maresca was asked about whether he still trusts Sanchez:
“He made a mistake against Man United, we recognize that. But I’ve said many times, when a keeper makes a mistake it’s the same as when a midfielder, defender, or striker makes one. We’re happy with Robert, we’re happy with Philipp — no problem with either of them.
"Maybe we’ve conceded five goals because of Robert’s mistakes, but how many goals have we avoided because of his saves? I think many. So, there’s no problem.”
Chelsea have a challenging run of fixtures in the days ahead, with matches against Liverpool and Benfica coming up.
"I think it’s a bit early to talk about the final part of the season—we’re not even in October. For me, it’s too soon. What we need is to continue to grow and improve, and as I’ve said many times, that’s the most important thing for me as a manager.”
Reinforcing his trust in 19-year-old Josh Acheampong, Maresca said:
“We’ve already shown trust and confidence in Acheampong last year when he played games in a row in the Premier League. Last year, when we played him away at Palace and at home against Bournemouth, it wasn’t because we lacked central defenders—Benoît was available. We trust Josh, not because of injuries. Nothing has changed; we trust him 100%.”
With games coming thick and fast and Chelsea struggling with injury problems, Maresca stressed the importance of rotation in the squad:
“We always try to rotate players, and that has to be a main focus this season because of the number of games and potential injuries. At the same time, sometimes you can’t rotate players in certain positions if you don’t have the right numbers. We try—especially when we have three games in a week—but some players will have to play every game.”
