Enzo Maresca forced to axe Chelsea star from squad that will play Leicester despite being spotted in training

Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca says he’s been forced to leave out his captain, Reece James, from the squad that will travel to the King Power on Saturday due to a muscle injury. James has had injury setbacks already this season but started three games in a row before being left out of the starting lineup against Arsenal just before the international break.

The news of his injury was a surprise as he was part of the players Chelsea posted on their Facebook page training ahead of the game against Leicester.

Speaking to the press ahead of the game this weekend, Maresca confirmed he’d been forced to leave James out because of the injury but was hoping it wouldn't be a long-term issue. He said: "We have just one injured player, and that is Reece. He felt something, and we don't want to take any risks for the weekend. He is the only one who is not available for this weekend. The rest, some of them are better, some of them are still a doubt, and we need to wait. Today is the first session with all the players returning from international duty, so we will see after today’s session."

No Chelsea player in the squad has missed more games due to injury than the Chelsea captain in the last two years, and there is real interest in him, given that when fit, he’s one of the best fullbacks in the team. Maresca was pressed on the severity of the injury and admitted he didn’t know how long it would take to recover but was hoping for the best.

He added: "No, as I said, he felt something. He has to be out, for sure, this weekend, and then we’ll see. At the moment, we don’t know how long. Then we’ll see."

One of the positives this season has been how Maresca has managed to keep players fit and manage their game time while maintaining a high level of competitiveness. They are third in the league table and on track to meet their targets for the season.