Enzo Maresca announces two new injury issues in unexpected statement | OneFootball

Because of the weird timings of the Christmas schedule, Enzo Maresca ended up doing his press conference previewing today’s Aston Villa game way back at the start of the week, and there’s since been a little update from the coach.

Maresca names two players with new injuries

Jamie Gittens battles for possession against Leeds. (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)

He spoke in the presser about the fitness status of Estevao Willian and Liam Delap, who are now ready for some minutes after short absences. But today the club’s official website added quotes about a couple of other players with minor issues.

“‘Jamie [Gittens] was not in the squad [vs Newcastle] because the day before, in the final training session, he had a problem in his shoulder,” Enzo Maresca explained.

“‘He is back now though and is okay for Villa. [Jorrel] Hato suffered an injury during the warm-up against Newcastle, at half-time. He is out for tomorrow’s game.”

The manager also spoke in general about some of the rotations he was going to have to make:

“I think this [rotation] will be very important,” Maresca said as we prepare to enter the busiest few weeks of the season, starting today.

“We have 11 games until the end of January but then in February, we will have another eight or nine games. So, it’s how we arrive in March, April in terms of energy, rotation, that will be very important. I already showed that we rotate players and for sure, now, with the number of games we have, we need to do that.”

In other news…

Chelsea and other Premier League teams are sniffing around a rising star from Ligue 1, and it sounds like bids could be coming in as soon as January from various teams.

One player who is not having a good season in Ligue 1 is Kendry Paez, who has struggled to make an impression on loan at Strasbourg since heading there on loan. There is speculation he won’t last the season. He could be recalled to save a valuable foreign loan slot for someone else.