Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca has said he must “protect players” as the Blues fight on multiple fronts this season, with Liam Delap’s return a welcome boost to the squad.
Chelsea suffered a last-gasp defeat to Sunderland in the Premier League at the weekend thanks to substitute Chemsdine Talbi’s stoppage-time goal, and must regroup when they face Wolves in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday.
Maresca confirmed former Ipswich striker Delap is back in contention after a lengthy injury layoff with a hamstring injury, having returned to training last week.
“He completed the whole session with us yesterday with no problems and he is available for tomorrow,” Maresca said.
“We have to be careful with Liam,” he continued, confirming it was unlikely he would play for the full 90 minutes. “He’s been out for two months, so he needs to be gradually brought back up to 100 per cent.
“We need to protect the players because if we go with the same XI, we are going to struggle during the season. We probably will make some changes against Wolves, I don’t know how many, but we will make changes.”
Chelsea are missing Cole Palmer with a persistent groin problem, while Joao Pedro has been nursing a leg injury but continued to play, including in Saturday’s defeat.
“I don’t know if it’s going to be nine or 10 like it was from Forest to Ajax [when Chelsea won 5-1], but for sure we need to make some to rotate and help protect the players,” Maresca said.
“There are players that they need to be protected for many reasons, so tomorrow we’ll see. Enzo [Fernandez], Moi [Moises Caicedo], Joao – they are all players, for different reasons, we need to protect them.
On Pedro, who has not scored in seven games, Maresca said: “When you are not 100%, it is difficult to compete. Joao is not a problem.
“He is going to score goals and give us assists. He is not going to score 20 goals a year. He’s a different profile.”
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