Malo Gusto and Wesley Fofana withdrew from France’s Under-21s and senior squads respectively for this international break, and will right now be at Cobham trying to get fit and fresh for next Saturday, when we take on Bournemouth in the Premier League.
Both will have prioritised rest in the first week of this break. We were left on a cliffhanger when it came to Gusto’s injury because Enzo Maresca’s post match interview after the Crystal Palace game before the break (which saw Gusto limp off) came before any assessment had been done on him.
Reece James, Gusto alternate at right back, has also been pushing for a return, but is also a bit of a question mark given how few updates we’ve had about him. Enzo Maresca’s press conference on Friday will be interesting on both these fronts.
Fofana is just being rested, having played his fist significant run of games in more than a year. His recovery will be just as delicate given his long term issues
Chelsea keen to keep consistency in poor back 4
The Blues have not been good enough defensively this season, and getting the players all familiar with each other is a vital part of improving things. The back four, as well as the players in front of them, need minutes to gel and coordinate. Having our first choice defenders available – which we have so far in the league this season is important and we hope to see both players line up for us on Saturday night as expected.
This is one of the advantages of playing an almost entirely different XI in the Conference League rather than mixing and matching – Fofana and Gusto can be kept to a strict one game a week ration – hopefully contributing to an improved medical situation this season.
