Maresca identifies Chelsea ‘problem’ with Chalobah, Tosin & Fofana amid ongoing selection issue | OneFootball

Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca has admitted that injury problems have made him rely on centre-back duo Trevoh Chalobah and Tosin Adarabioyo more than he would have liked.

With Benoit Badiashile and Levi Colwill out, Chelsea currently have three fit experienced centre-back options at their disposal: Chalobah, Tosin, and Wesley Fofana.

Badiashile has recently returned to the training pitch, a welcome news for Maresca, but until he is fit enough to play in a match, the head coach does not have many options.

Fofana, in particular, recently underwent hamstring surgery and has yet to play a full 90 minutes since.

This is an issue, as Maresca himself confirmed, that he could not give either Chalobah or Adarabioyo enough rest.

"I would love to rest both of them because they deserve to rest," Maresca told reporters when asked about Chalobah and Tosin.

IMAGO / DeFodi Images

"The problem is that we also have Wes Fofana playing after a long time. So if we rest Tosin, if we rest Trev, and if we rest Wes, probably I need to play some part of the game.

"We don't have defenders so some of them need to play."

Chalobah and Adarabioyo have played in six and five games, respectively, since the start of the season.

The former has also had the third most minutes in the Premier League this season among Chelsea players, only behind Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez.

IMAGO / Pro Sports Images

Obviously, Chelsea also have a 19-year-old Josh Acheampong, who did relatively well in the season-opening goalless draw with Crystal Palace.

That said, from Maresca's words, it is clear that he prefers to rely on the more experienced centre-backs.

The Blues will play four games in the next two weeks, including two tough home matches against Benfica and Liverpool next week.