Enzo Maresca has laid bare his bundle of ‘question marks’ before Chelsea’s trip to Brentford, saying half of his team are fighting to be fit for their Saturday night clash amid injuries and international duty issues.
Cole Palmer only trained partially with his team-mates on Thursday for the first time since his groin issue, on the same day that all of Maresca’s South American stars returned from international duty.
Joao Pedro, Estevao Willian and Andrey Santos were unable to train fully after being away with Brazil, while Moises Caicedo likewise only returned from Ecuador duty later in the evening.
Maresca added Liam Delap will be sidelined for up to 12 weeks after injuring his hamstring while Dario Essugo is set to miss the next months after undergoing surgery on his thigh. Levi Colwill is likewise going to skip most of this season after an ACL injury.
Chelsea had a training session scheduled for Friday afternoon but Maresca, speaking to the assembled media on the morning, appeared unsure who could participate fully.
‘Cole took part yesterday for the first time, not the entire session,’ he said. ‘Today in the afternoon we have one more session. We’re going to try with him, if he’s okay, otherwise he will be out tomorrow again. Liam is around 10 to 12 weeks, so he has a long way to go.
Enzo Maresca says half of his Chelsea team are battling fitness issues heading into Brentford
Manchester City
Manchester United
*18+, excludes NI. Terms and conditions apply
Cole Palmer is one of many injury doubts for the beleaguered Blues boss
‘The three Brazilian players (Joao Pedro, Estevao, Santos) arrived yesterday. They didn’t train. They did some recovery session. Moises arrived last night, so I didn’t see him. I will see him today.
‘For all of them, it’s a question mark for tomorrow. When they play in Bolivia, it’s so difficult that they can be back very soon.’
Meanwhile, Maresca has a decision to make up front as he sees Marc Guiu, who was recalled from his season-long loan to Sunderland, as his only true No 9 replacement for Delap.
‘Joao Pedro also can play there,’ he added. ‘Against Fulham, we used Tyrique (George) as a No 9, so we can also think about him.’
On Chelsea’s 74 charges, Maresca commented: ‘I know from the club that they are satisfied about the situation, about the process. Personally, I don’t have anything to add.
‘First of all, because I don’t have any idea, to be honest. So if I say something, I can probably be wrong or right, but I don’t have any idea. I just focus on the pitch side, something that I can control.’
