Enzo Maresca confirms Liam Delap injury boost as Chelsea star nears return | Football | Sport
Enzo Maresca has revealed that Liam Delap could be back in action for Chelsea as early as next week. The summer recruit from Ipswich Town has been sidelined since the end of August after pulling his hamstring in the victory over Fulham. However, the forward might be fit to play against Wolves in the Carabao Cup fourth round on Wednesday.
Speaking to journalists on Friday before Chelsea‘s league game against Sunderland at the weekend, Maresca said: “We don’t have any new injuries. Liam took part of the session yesterday with the team for the first time. He is not going to be available for tomorrow but probably for the next one.”
When asked if he’s ahead of schedule, the Italian responded: “Well, the schedule also can change a little bit, it depends how they improve or get worse.
“The first time they said to me that he could be available for the 25th of October, so today is 24th, 25th.”
When Maresca was questioned if Delap could feature next week in the League Cup, he confirmed: “Yeah, he can be available.”
Marc Guiu might be given a start against Sunderland on Saturday, which would be quite the turnaround considering he was loaned out to the Stadium of Light before being recalled just 26 days later.
A combination of Nicolas Jackson departing for Bayern Munich and Delap’s severe hamstring injury left Maresca short up front, so it was decided Guiu would be brought back to Stamford Bridge.
The ex-Barcelona player netted against Ajax in the Champions League on Wednesday, and it’s likely he’ll be given a starting position against Sunderland.
“Marc is a typical No 9, you will see physically strong, he is a box player, again he is [born in] 06, he can improve and he can do many things better and we are working with him every day to help him and as I said many times, he is going to play games with us,” said Maresca.
“Then in terms of Joao [Pedro], we know that he can play as a No 9 or he can play as a No 10. In both positions I think Joao is very good but probably when he has another No 9 next to him, he is playing better.”
Sunderland have kicked off the season in fine form and currently sit seventh in the Premier League having won four times, drawn twice and lost twice.
“I think they show since the season starts that they are a very good team, they play together, they work together, they play as a team,” added Maresca.
“Also in terms of results, they have the same points as us so they are showing how good they are doing since they started and the game, it’s a Premier League game, I don’t think there is any game that can be easy, they are all difficult games.”
