Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca has confirmed fresh fitness concerns within his squad ahead of today’s Premier League clash against Fulham at Stamford Bridge.
Maresca revealed that Moises Caicedo has only trained once in the lead up to the game against Fulham. The midfielder has played every minute of Chelsea’s two league games so far but the Italian coach says he only trained on Friday this week, following the win over West Ham last Friday.
Chelsea are also without Cole Palmer and Levi Colwill for the game against Fulham. Palmer has suffered a groin injury, while Colwill is out for the long-term with a knee injury.
Speaking at the pre-match press conference on Friday, the Blues boss believes the number of minutes all three played last season, which also included the Club World Cup this summer, is a reason behind their injuries and fitness struggles.
“I don’t think that it is random that our three players with the most minutes last year were Levi Colwill, Cole and Moi Caicedo,”
“Levi is injured, Cole too and Moi today only had his first training session since the West Ham game.
“It is not random, it is the amount of games. Look at Manchester City last year, they lost Rodri after two or three games. He was a player that had the most minutes for them.
“We are going to have problems this season for sure because of last season. But It’s about how we can adapt and get players to recover.”
Also ruled out against Fulham are Romeo Lavia and Benoit Badiashile. Palmer may be available after the international break with him having been left out of Thomas Tuchel’s England squad for their World Cup qualifiers with Andorra and Serbia.
Maresca also touched upon how he will try to manage Lavia and Badiashile as they aim to return to action as seen on the club official website, with the head coach highlighting the approach taken for Wesley Fofana as a similar example. He said:
‘With Romeo and Benoit, it’s normal after a long time out that they will need time and sessions,’ the Italian stated. ‘It’s the same with what we are doing with Wes.
‘Wes is back and the other day he played some minutes. Hopefully, we can have more minutes and get him to the right condition.
‘Romeo, I think two seasons ago, he didn’t start any games. Last year he played some games, this season the target is to give him more games.
‘Hopefully, the moment he is back, he can be fit for a long time and play more minutes and games, because he is a player we really trust.’
Softfootball reported earlier that Alejandro Garnacho has sealed a £40m move to Chelsea after pushing for Exit From Manchester United
