Reece James is fit for Chelsea’s final day showdown at Nottingham Forest, manager Enzo Maresca has confirmed.
Forest take on Chelsea in a huge match at the City Ground on Sunday. A win for Forest would see them leapfrog Chelsea in the Premier League table and give them a chance of finishing inside the top five.
Anything other than a victory for Forest will see them miss out on a place at European football’s top table.
Chelsea will be able to call upon their captain James. The England international has trained alone in the build-up to the match but Maresca insists that is just part of a programme designed to protect him from injury.
“He’s OK,” said Maresca. “He has his own programme because we try to protect him and manage him in training sessions.”
Chelsea could also have France international Christopher Nkunku available after injury, while Spanish striker Marc Guiu is closing on full fitness too.
On Nkunku, Maresca added: “He is working with us in the last few days, him and Marc Guiu, and both can be available for the next game.”
Fifth-placed Chelsea have only won one of their last 10 matches away from home in the Premier League. In contrast, Maresca's side have won 12 of their 19 matches at Stamford Bridge - a home record only Liverpool and Manchester City have bettered.
Maresca insists there is no pshycological issue affecting his players when they play away.
He said: "The last game was Newcastle away and they showed resilience, they showed effort. Overall, I don't think we deserved to lose that game, even with 10 players, but at the end we lost the game. I don't think it's a mental issue to be honest."
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