Three Chelsea players are back for the upcoming Premier League clash against Tottenham but Romeo Lavia has suffered a fresh injury problem.
Speaking at his pre-match press conference on Wednesday morning, Enzo Maresca confirmed Cole Palmer, Nicolas Jackson and Noni Madueke were ‘all good’ to feature in Thursday’s London derby.
Lavia’s absence looks set to continue, however, after he suffered a ‘small problem’ n training earlier in the week.
Maresca said: ‘Cole is back, he is okay. Noni is better. Nico is better. They are all good.
‘We’ve said many times, it is a game for players and when they are not there, you struggle.
‘This has happened with us this season, where we had five or six unbelievable months and then had six or seven injuries in a row and we lost something.
‘Now it is good to finish with all of them. Since day one, [the players] are giving everything. The attitude has always been top, every day, and even in the last week because they know how important it is from now on.
‘Every game becomes important. We have nine games to go and hopefully we can finish well.’
Asked about Lavia’s possible return, Maresca added: ‘He was doing better in terms of progress but unfortunately one or two days ago he had a small problem, so we will see in the next hours.’
Palmer, arguably Chelsea’s best and most important player, missed the 1-0 defeat to Arsenal before the international break with a hamstring injury.
The 22-year-old, who is going through the first sticky patch of his career, then withdrew from England’s squad for the World Cup qualifiers against Albania and Latvia.
Madueke has also been struggling with a hamstring injury that has kept him sidelined since mid-February.
The 23-year-old was one of Chelsea’s brightest players during the first-half of the season but only has two goals since early December.
Jackson, meanwhile, has not played since February 3. The Senegal striker scored nine goals in the first-half of the season but had failed to score in eight games before his injury setback.
Lavia has endured a miserable time with injuries since Chelsea signed him from Southampton in the summer of 2023, missing 62 games through various setbacks.
Chelsea welcome Spurs to Stamford Bridge on Thursday hoping to consolidate their place in the top-four of the Premier League.
Maresca’s side have lost three of their last five league games but face a Tottenham team sitting 14th in the table and without a league win since late February.
‘It’s a huge game,’ Maresca said. ‘We know how important it is for the fans and the club. It is also important for us to try and finish where we are now.
‘Tottenham have a lot of good players, but no matter who is playing, it’s going to be a derby and it’s a Premier League and you can struggle against any team.
‘We want to be direct and quick when they press higher. We cannot be direct and quick if they sit back.
‘In our last three home games, they have all been games with every player behind the ball. When you have players who love to run in behind, it is easier.
‘If we win, you can build momentum for the end. They are all important games and are all three points. We need to win as many games as we can and we will see where we finish.’
On Tottenham’s struggles this season, Maresca added: ‘For part of the season, they had many injuries. It’s not easy to deal with that.
‘They had important players out. I’m not able to give you more reason because you need more details, but injuries have been an important part [of their struggles].’
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