Enzo Maresca admits he has no idea when ‘quality’ Chelsea player will be fit again

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Chelsea are preparing for their second away game in a row as they get ready for the short trip across the capital to face West Ham.

The Blues are currently perfect away from home in the Premier League this season under Enzo Maresca. The boss has the chance to match Pep Guardiola in winning his first three away from home.

The manager has had to deal with a number of injury issues already since taking over. He had to experiment with Renato Veiga in midfield last weekend due to a problem for a number of midfielders.

Another position where there is a real issue at the moment is right-back, with both of the club’s senior options not fit to feature.

One of those who has not been able to get his career under Maresca underway as of yet is Reece James, with the club captain not featuring since pre-season.

Maresca has no idea when Reece James will return

It was originally claimed his issue would not be too serious, however four games into the season he is still nowhere to be seen.

Now, Maresca has admitted in his pre-match press conference that the club actually don’t know when he will return.

He said: “Waiting until he’s fit. It’s a bit delayed. The most important thing for him is they are back when they are 100% fit. Reece is still out.

“We do not have an idea, at the moment. In terms of injuries in the past, we always hope we can find solutions. In this case it has been very unlucky because we planned to change him after 65 minutes and he got injured on 62/63.”

Real worries over James

There will no doubt be some real worries now about the future of James at the club. His quality is undoubtable when he is fully fit, although that is unfortunately becoming a much rarer occurance these days.

The Blues do have adequate back up in the form of Malo Gusto, however he has also been struggling with his own injury woes.

There may be another selection headache to come at right-back this weekend, after Axel Disasi hardly covered himself in glory last time out.