Enzo Maresca delivers Chelsea injury update with Jorrel Hato ruled out of Bournemouth clash | OneFootball

Chelsea are set to renew hostilities with Bournemouth at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday night.

Manager Enzo Maresca has confirmed that Jorrel Hato is unavailable this weekend after picking up an issue during the half-time warm-up against Newcastle United.

Speaking at his pre-match press conference, Maresca made it clear that Hato hasn’t made enough progress in his recovery to be named in the squad to face Bournemouth.

It wasn’t all doom and gloom on the injury front, with Maresca also confirming that Wesley Fofana is back in contention after sitting out the gut-wrenching defeat against Aston Villa.

Maresca said the decision was only about protecting Fofana’s fitness.

The centre-back is not fit enough to start consecutive games, with the Italian manager carefully managing Fofana’s workload following previous injury problems.

Maresca has already been praised for how well he has managed fitness issues at Chelsea.

Reece James is the obvious example. After years of injury woes, the Chelsea captain recently played his 50th game of 2025 against Villa.

It was the first time in the last four years that the England international has managed to string together such a consistent run of appearances.

James has started all but one of Chelsea’s 18 Premier League games this season.

He has also featured in five of the club’s six Champions League games and is now able to play three times in a week.

Maresca hopes to repeat that trick with Fofana, whose Chelsea career has been plagued by recurring injury issues.

Cole Palmer is also having his minutes carefully managed after spending two and a half years on the sidelines earlier this season.

Maresca confirmed that both will have to pass a late fitness test to determine whether they’ll be available to face Bournemouth.

“We will need to see how they are,” Maresca said when asked about Palmer and James. “Then we will need to decide [if they face Bournemouth].

“Reece is doing very well – no matter which position he is playing, he is helping a lot.

“After the effort against Aston Villa, we will have to see how he is for Bournemouth. But again, we are happy that he is fit.”