Chelsea’s Maresca excited to face old club Leicester but says James injured again

Maresca said captain James, who has made only four appearances this season after struggling with a hamstring injury, is unavailable after suffering a setback this week.

FILE -Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca and Reece James during training. | Photo Credit: Action Images via Reuters

Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca is excited to tackle his former club Leicester City, who he guided into the Premier League last season, but the London side will be without their captain, Reece James, who has been sidelined with injury yet again.

Maresca joined Leicester in June last year following the club’s relegation to the second-tier in the 2022-23 season and helped the Foxes bounce back to the top flight as it was crowned champions in the 44-year-old’s first term in charge.

“I’m excited and thankful, it was a fantastic season. The owner his family are fantastic people. They care for players, staff, and all of the people that work in the club. You can see that,” Maresca told reporters ahead of Saturday’s game.

“It was a fantastic season because I met good people. There was a fantastic connection between the players and staff, and that is something you have to create to be successful. I’m still in contact with them.”

Maresca said captain James, who has made only four appearances this season after struggling with a hamstring injury, is unavailable after suffering a setback this week.

“He felt something, he has to be out. For sure, this weekend and then we’ll see. We don’t know for how long. He has to try and avoid as much as he can, but sometimes things happen even if you want to avoid that,” Maresca said.

“Hopefully he can be available for the next one, but he is not available for this one. It’s a muscular problem. We don’t want to take any risks for this weekend. Hopefully, it’s not something long.”

Chelsea is third in the standings with 19 points from 11 games and will face a Leicester side languishing in 15th place, but Maresca said they cannot take Steve Cooper’s side for granted.

“They know exactly what we do ... We will try to adjust the small details to see if we can do something different. It’s more from their side that they know us better than we know them,” Maresca said.

“It’s not an easy game. We can see it is always complicated, no matter where the teams are in the table. We are going to make sure we are focused and prepared. We will prepare to win in the best way.”