Enzo Maresca on replacing suspended Caicedo, Cole Palmer and Reece James’ fitness | OneFootball

Enzo Maresca is confident that Chelsea can cope without the suspended Moises Caicedo.

The Blues midfielder will miss three games after receiving a straight red card in the draw with Arsenal.

Maresca will not be able to call upon Romeo Lavia to fill the void left by Caicedo, with the Belgian still recovering from injury.

But the Italian boss says Andrey Santos is ready to step up if called upon, and says Josh Acheampong is also a possibility to play in Caicedo’s position.

Meanwhile, Cole Palmer returned to the bench against Arsenal having been out since September but was an unused substitute.

The forward has been out with a groin injury, before then suffering a broken toe which forced him to miss a longer period.

And Maresca says the plan is to gradually build up his minutes.

Maresca also reiterated ahead of the game against Leeds on Wednesday that he will need to be careful with Reece James, given his injury history.