Enzo Maresca has provided an injury update on Romeo Lavia and Pedro Neto ahead of Chelsea’s Premier League clash with Wolves on Saturday.
Lavia was forced off after just eight minutes in Chelsea’s 2-2 Champions League draw with Qarabag on Wednesday with a quad problem.
Neto, meanwhile, appeared to suffer a calf injury during Chelsea’s 1-0 win over Tottenham last week.
Quizzed about Lavia in his pre-match press conference on Friday, Chelsea head coach Maresca said: ‘We need to wait still some hours to do all the checks that he needs, but for sure at the moment he’s injured.
‘It’s painful, so we need to do all the checks and then we’ll see. It’s a shame.
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‘It’s a shame in this moment also because we are trying to minimise minutes for him.
‘But even with that, he’s injured again. We need to insist until we don’t find the right solution for him.’
Asked to provide an update on Neto, Maresca added: ‘He had a session yesterday with the physio outside on the pitch.
‘It was good, and today he will travel with us and then we’ll take the final decision.’
Does Lavia’s injury cause a problem for Caicedo?
Maresca admits that Lavia’s injury means he cannot rest Moises Caicedo as much as he’d like.
‘Absolutely, yes,’ Maresca said. ‘When you have a chance to rotate also. And the other day, I think we said already, two or three times, that we have Caicedo, we have Enzo Fernandez, we have Pedro Neto, we have Joao Pedro, that they are all players that they are not training every day, because of small issues.
‘So if we are able to give them some time off, rest, it’s better. But in this moment, you see, Moi, the other day, after five minutes, he was on the pitch. In the past, we used Andrey Santos as a No.6. In the past, we used also Josh as a No.6. And Reece is playing as a No.6. But for sure, when you have more options, it’s better.’
Enzo Maresca: Estevao ready to start vs Wolves
Estevao is ‘ready to start’ for Chelsea against Wolves on Saturday, Maresca has confirmed.
‘He’s ready to start,’ Maresca continued. ‘For sure he’s ready to start. But if Estevao starts, another one is on the bench.
‘And probably the other one also wants to start. We just try to do the best for Estevao.
‘We are helping him in terms of adapt to England. Again, last week he was complaining about it being cold.
‘Last week was still October. Imagine December, January! He has to adapt. He’s happy. He’s doing fantastic. For sure he’s a talented player for this club.’