Enzo Maresca confirms injury to ‘complete’ Chelsea player that means he’s unavailable vs Leicester

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Chelsea return to action in a couple of days time with a trip to Leicester City, but they’ve been dealt an injury blow ahead of the weekend fixture.

Chelsea travel to Leicester on Saturday afternoon for a fascinating Premier League match.

Enzo Maresca has impressed plenty of people during his opening few months as the Blues head coach, but now he faces the pressure of returning to his former club.

The Italian manager led Leicester to promotion from the Championship last season as title winners. It is believed that Leicester supporters will give Maresca a positive reception this weekend.

• READ MORE: Leicester boss Steve Cooper makes claim about Enzo Maresca ahead of Saturday’s match vs Chelsea

Enzo Maresca confirms Reece James will miss Leicester vs Chelsea

Speaking in Thursday’s pre-match press conference, Maresca confirmed the news that Chelsea supporters will hate hearing.

He shared that Blues captain Reece James is missing for the Leicester fixture after picking up a fresh hamstring injury this week.

Maresca said via Chelsea’s official YouTube channel: “We have for sure just one injured player. That is Reece [James]. Unfortunately, he felt something small and we don’t want to take any risk for the weekend. He’s the only one for sure that is not available this weekend…

“It’s hamstring. It’s a muscular problem. We don’t want to take any risk for this weekend. Hopefully it’s not something long.

“He has to try and avoid as much as he can but sometimes things happen even if you want to avoid that. This weekend he’s not available, hopefully he can be available for the next one.”

Unfortunately, this is the latest in a long line of injuries that James has suffered in recent years.

When fit, the 24-year-old Chelsea right-back has proven he can be one of the world’s elite defenders. Kyle Walker called Chelsea full-back James “complete” because of his all-round game.

However, the Blues academy graduate can’t keep himself fit for any extended period of time.

Fans must be running out of patience with Reece James

James has only played four games so far this season because of injury. In fact, Maresca didn’t start him against Arsenal before the international break because of tactical reasons.

Now, there’s yet another hurdle that the Chelsea full-back has to get over as he recovers from another hamstring problem.

The good news is that Malo Gusto, 21, is a superb alternative for Chelsea in the right-back position. It makes the decision to sign him from Lyon nearly 18 months ago look like a masterstroke.