Enzo Maresca has revealed that Enzo Fernandez is an early injury doubt for Chelsea’s Champions League game against Ajax on Wednesday.
Fernandez withdrew from international duty with Argentina last weekend due to a knee injury and was unable to take part in training after returning to Chelsea this week.
The 24-year-old was then left out of the matchday squad for Chelsea’s 3-0 win against Nottingham Forest on Saturday.
‘Enzo had small problem,’ Maresca said after Chelsea’s victory.
‘A small problem that at the moment we are not able to say if he can be available for Ajax or not.’
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Maresca, meanwhile, made three substitutes at half time after a poor first-half display against Forest.
Romeo Lavia, Alejandro Garnacho and Andrey Santos were all replaced with Moises Caicedo, Jamie Gittens and Marc Guiu brought on.
Josh Acheampong, Pedro Neto and Reece James all found the net in the second half to secure Chelsea’s 3-0 win.
‘I always try to do my best. Sometimes I’m wrong, sometimes I’m right. But in this moment, it’s more about protecting players. We already knew that Romeo [Lavia] was not going to play 90 minutes,’ Maresca said when asked about his three substitutions.
‘Romeo’s plan was 45 minutes. Moi [Caicedo] cannot play 90 minutes, so the decision was to start with Moi or start with Romeo. And Romeo needs confidence, he needs a boost, he needs to start the game. So that was the plan. Then Garna [Garnacho] did a fantastic game against Liverpool. So it was good to give him again the chance.
‘Jamie [Gittens] came on, he was okay. And I think Marc Guiu was good. But also we planned the game expecting them back four, not back five. I think back four with Joao Pedro at No.9 is better. With back five, Joao Pedro at No.9 is not… if you remember, West Ham away, back five, we played Liam Delap and Joao Pedro against a back five. So we expected them back four, but they were back five. And then after half-time, we changed.’
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