Liam Rosenior has provided a triple injury update after Malo Gusto, Reece James and Cole Palmer were left out of the squad against Charlton.
Rosenior’s first game in charge couldn’t have gone much better as Chelsea avoided a potential banana skin as they beat Charlton 5-1 in the FA Cup third round.
The Blues had five different goal scorers, but a brilliant strike from Jorrel Hato was without doubt the pick of the bunch.
Liam Rosenior provides triple injury update after Charlton win
Rosenior heavily rotated the side after the defeat to Fulham, and certainly made more changes than many would have expected.
A number of fringe players were handed the opportunity to impress, whilst the bench had a number of first team regulars on it.
However, there were three noticeable absentees from the match day squad in James, Palmer and Gusto, and Rosenior revealed post game why the trio weren’t part of the squad.
Reece James dominates midfield.
James was left out of the squad against Charlton. (Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
“Malo, Cole and Reece were precautionary today,” he told his post match press conference.
“I don’t want to take any risks at this stage of the season. They had minor tweaks or knocks from the Fulham game.
“And I didn’t feel, I feel like I’ve got such a good squad here. I don’t need to risk their health at the moment. We have a huge game on Wednesday.
“We have a huge game on Saturday. And I’ll check the medical reports tonight and tomorrow morning and see how they are then.”
Enzo Maresca is believed to have fallen out with the medical staff over the amount of minutes James should play, and it will be interesting to see how Rosenior handles it.
Chelsea face tough Arsenal task on Wednesday
After the win against Charlton, attention now turns to arguably the biggest game of the season on Wednesday night.
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The Blues host Arsenal in the the first leg of their Carabao Cup semi final, in what will be Rosenior’s first game at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea held the Gunners to a 1-1 draw earlier in the season, but will once again be without the suspended Moises Caicedo, whilst Rosenior will be hoping he can call on James, Gusto and Palmer.