Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca has spoken on Liam Delap’s injury ahead of the Blues’ game against Ajax this week.
The Blues have won two games in a row in the Premier League as they managed to win 3-0 against Nottingham Forest in what was Ange Postecoglou’s final game in charge of the tricky trees.
Maresca was watching from the stand after he was sent off in Chelsea’s 2-1 win against Liverpool before the international break. He will be back on the side-lines in their next game against Ajax on Wednesday night in the Champions League.
Ahead of the game, he has provided an injury update on striker Liam Delap, who has been out of action since August when he suffered a hamstring problem very early on in his career at Stamford Bridge after joining from Ipswich in the summer.
Maresca says Delap is “very close” to a return
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Maresca was speaking to the media ahead of the Champions League game against Ajax on Wednesday night. He said that Delap would miss the game, but is getting very close to coming back for Chelsea.
He told ESPN: “Liam is very close. He is not working with us yet, he is still out but hopefully he can start in the next days to take part in the session with us.”
No return date has yet been suggested for the £30m summer signing, but he was initially feared to be out until mid-November, that looks as though it may not be the case, which is a huge boost for Maresca and the Blues.
Who else is injured for Chelsea?
In terms of players who will certainly miss the Ajax game, Levi Colwill continues to be out for a long period with his ACL injury, he is looking to return at the end of the season.
Benoit Badiashile is also out with a muscle issue until December, whereas Cole Palmer is also looking at a December return, which is a huge blow for Chelsea.
Enzo Fernandez looks like he could make a return against Ajax this week, which would be great, but if he doesn’t, the Argentine should be ready for Chelsea’s next Premier League game against Sunderland next weekend.