Maresca points out he has favoured Acheampong over Tosin in the past | OneFootball

Josh Acheampong was promised minutes this season, but he’s not really getting them. 204 minutes in all competitions is not a great return for the defender.

Part of it is bad luck – he missed the Lincoln game in the league cup he was bound to start because of illness. He was taken off against Liverpool because of cramp. But equally his opportunities are likely to dry up further now.

Wesley Fofana, Tosin Adarabioyo and Trevoh Chalobah are all back for Saturday’s game. They’ve all been preferred to Josh at times both this season and last. Benoit Badiashile has impressed since his return too. What chance do we give Josh of starting on Saturday? Very little.

Chances harder and harder to come by for defensive talent

Josh Acheampong battles for the ball. (Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)

Against Ajax? Unlikely. Sunderland the same. Against Wolves in the EFL Cup? At least two of those defenders above will be wanting a game then. Will Maresca pick Josh ahead of them? After that there’s Tottenham then Qarabag away, which we still can’t really afford to take any risks with if we want to try and make the top 8 in the Champions League group stage and avoid two extra fixtures.

Enzo Maresca has promised the defender minutes repeatedly, but they’re hard to come by. Reece James’ impressive spell of fitness on the right has meant no chances for Josh there either, with Malo Gusto a favoured alternate.

Maresca points out he has favoured Acheampong over Tosin before

Maresca pointed out last month that he had picked the defender when others were available last season:

“Last year, when he played games in a row in the Premier League, every central defender was available. When we played Josh away to Palace and at home to Bournemouth, the reason wasn’t because we didn’t have central defenders. I think Tosin was available [for both games].”

“We trust Josh not because of an injury situation. Nothing has changed with Josh, we trust him 100 per cent. He was ill earlier this week and had his first session back yesterday with us. But part of my job is to find solutions when we have problems in terms of numbers.”

We will see.