Enzo Maresca has confirmed Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall will “probably” start against Barrow in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday evening and opened up on how the midfielder needs to adapt to not being the main man.
Dewsbury-Hall made the switch to Chelsea this summer from boyhood club Leicester in a deal worth £30m after starring for the Foxes as they won the Championship title.
The midfielder was Leicester’s main man as he scored 12 goals and provided 14 assists in the league last season, but his role at Chelsea is very different and one he will have to adjust to.
Maresca opens up on Dewsbury-Hall
The 26-year-old has had to adjust to not being the main man and has featured from the bench in the Premier League, whilst he started the two Europa Conference League ties against Servette.
Dewsbury-Hall returned to action against West Ham after missing the win against Bournemouth when he came on for the final few minutes.
The Carabao Cup tie against Barrow represents a good opportunity for Dewsbury-Hall to get some more minutes under his belt and perhaps get his first goal for Chelsea.
Maresca is expected to make wholesale changes to his team for the game and in his pre-match press conference he all but confirmed Dewsbury-Hall would start.
“Probably [will start tomorrow], we have a session this afternoon and I like to tell the players before,” he told reporters.
“We need to understand Kiernan was the main player at Leicester and he is not now. For him, you need to adapt, mentally you need to adapt.
“That period requires time to understand that and adapt. I am completely happy with Kiernan, the way he is doing.”
The game against the League Two leaders sees Chelsea kick off their campaign for the first piece of silverware of the season and the club will be hoping to go one better after losing last season’s final and get their hands on the first trophy under the new ownership.