Enzo Maresca admitted he was happy for Wesley Fofana and Romeo Lavia after the pair played 45 minutes against Wrexham, following their injury nightmares last season.
The Blues drew 2-2 with their Welsh counterparts in what was the first time Maresca’s team had been seen in action, with Christopher Nkunku and Lesley Ugochukwu scoring the goals.
A big positive for Chelsea and the supporters would have been seeing some of their injured stars back in action and coming through unscathed.
Lavia and Fofana really important for Chelsea
Lavia and Fofana played 30 minutes of football between them last season, with the French defender missing the entire campaign after picking up an ACL injury, whilst Lavia was also plagued with injury issues.
Having the duo back will feel like the Blues have made two new signings and the Belgian midfielder played the first half, which amounted to more minutes than he had had played in the entire of last season, whilst Fofana made his long awaited return to action in the second.
If the pair can stay fit they will have a key role to play and Maresca admitted after the game he was happy for them both, and described the duo as very important.
“They are both very important,” he told Football London.
“At this moment for them, it is important to get minutes, to use every training session.
“I’m very happy, especially for them, for one year without getting minutes, it is difficult mentally.
“They need a boost, energy and 45 minutes is going to help both of them.”
Lavia looked sharp on his return to action and offered Chelsea protection in the middle of the park, something which was missing last season, whilst Fofana looked understandably a bit rusty given it was his first game back after a year out.
The Blues will hope the pair can continue to build their fitness over the tour with Chelsea next in action against Celtic on Saturday.
