Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca has revealed that Liam Delap is available to feature in Wednesday's EFL Cup fourth round tie at Wolverhampton Wanderers.
However, the Blues boss has conceded that he may take the opportunity to rest at least three of his key players ahead of the club's hectic schedule for the remainder of 2025.
The trip to Molineux comes after Chelsea's four-match winning streak came to an end on Saturday as they lost 2-1 at home to Sunderland courtesy of a 93rd-mintue goal for the Black Cats.
Maresca had previously made 10 changes for the Champions League fixture with Ajax, the extra rest given to many of his senior players not proving as beneficial as they would have hoped.
Nevertheless, speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, Maresca hinted that more widespread changes were in the offing, as well as confirming that Delap will play some part of the game in the West Midlands.
Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca in September 2025.
Maresca provide Delap update ahead of Wolves EFL Cup tie
Commenting on the fitness of Delap, the Italian admitted that the summer signing would not be considered for 90 minutes after spending two months on the sidelines with a hamstring injury.
Maresca said: "He took part of a complete session yesterday and he is available for tomorrow. Ninety minutes, no, he's been out two months so he needs to be gradually back to 100%."
When quizzed on the likes of Moises Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez and Joao Pedro, Maresca claimed that they were each players that needed to be "protected".
He added: "They are probably players that need to be protected. Probably tomorrow. We will see. Enzo, Moi and Joao, they are all different players for different reasons we need to protect them."
Chelsea midfielder Moises Caicedo claps the fans on September 30, 2025
Chelsea rotation expected
Since the increase in matches, Maresca has not shied away from rotating his players, partly a consequence of their exploits during the summer's Club World Cup.
Although Wolves are a fellow Premier League side, widespread changes appear likely, Maresca saying: "The reason why is we need to rotate, we need to protect players. If we go with the same XI, we will struggle through the season.
"We are probably going to make some changes, I don't know how many, but we will make changes. I don't know if it's going to be nine or 10 like with Forest and Ajax, but for sure we will need to make some."
Wednesday's match comes three days prior to a London derby at Tottenham Hotspur, before Chelsea make the long trip to Azerbaijan to face Qarabag FK in the Champions League next week.
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