Maresca names two returning Chelsea players who trained yesterday and could feature this weekend | OneFootball

We’ve been critical of Enzo Maresca’s decisions with regard to rotation in his team so far this season, and there is a lot to be critical of.

However some important context is the injuries in the squad. Right now there are a few long term absentees like Levi Colwill and Dario Essugo who have recently had surgery. But there are other players who have now missed a major chunk of the season who we were expecting to be back by now.

Lavia and Badiashile continue to miss time

Romeo Lavia on the sidelines. (Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images)

Romeo Lavia and Benoit Badiashile are two of the most injury prone players we can remember at Chelsea. Rather than just having broken legs or shredded ACLs, they seem to each have a consistent stream of 2 to 3 month injuries that never go away.

Both featured in some capacity in the summer then disappeared off the radar. Now, are we approach October, they’re still not back. Maresca’s answer in his press conference this afternoon made it clear they won’t be back soon:

“No, no, they are not back for this game, unfortunately. They both took part in the session yesterday,” Maresca said.

“That is good news. Hopefully, they can be available very soon, but they are not available for tomorrow. Again, Cole is the one. Then we have some players with small problems from already a long time, like Moi [Caicedo], like Joao [Pedro], that they are trying to manage a little bit themselves. But then the rest, they are okay.”

Chelsea simply can’t count on injured duo

We wish we could agree that it was good news that they were back last night – in fact it doesn’t really promise anything to us. We’re long beyond trusting either of the pair to get fit or stay fit. Right now it’s really hurting us, especially in midfield where the simultaneous loss of Essugo and Lavia is hurting.