Maresca urges focus away from James after latest injury setback | OneFootball

Enzo Maresca has urged people to talk less about Chelsea captain Reece James, to avoid putting unneccesary pressure on him.

James suffered another setback after suffering a hamstring injury in training during the recent international break.

The Blues face Heidenheim on Thursday in the Conference League game, and speaking ahead of that fixture, the Chelsea boss shared no timeline on his return.

He said: “I think the best thing we can do, as the staff, and you, don’t talk too much about Reece. The more we speak about Reece, the more pressure we put on him. The more you ask, the more I answer, the more we put pressure on him.

“For sure, if we have him, we are more happy because we can use him and he can help us in different ways. We don’t have doubt that when he played from the start or from the bench, he always helped us. Now, he’s injured.

“It is something he has to fight in terms of it’s normal, when you get injured, you become afraid, it’s normal on that. At the same time, it is his profession. You can get injured.”

Maresca was also asked about Christopher Nkunku’s future at Chelsea, with the Blues boss emphatically responding that he is not for sale.

“Absolutely, yes [he is not for sale],” Maresca added. “I spoke with Christo days ago – he did not say he is not happy.

“The problem with Christo, not the problem but the same issue we have mentioned many times; if you play with Cole, Joao, Christo, Jadon or Noni – who is defending? Their skill is not defending. The last game, we tried with Joao and Cole together.”