Maresca vows to ‘find solutions’ after Fofana injury blow

Enzo Maresca has admitted Wesley Fofana’s injury is a big blow, but insisted that he will be able to find a solution to his defensive problems.

The injury-plaged centre-back was forced off during Sunday’s game against Aston Villa with a hamstring injury.

After the 3-0 win, head coach Maresca suggested that Fofana could be sidelined for up to five weeks.

The Blues face a trip to Southampton on Wednesday and, speaking ahead of the match, Maresca revealed that Chelsea are still waiting for clarity on the extent of Fofan’s injury.

“We don’t have any update at the moment in terms of what happened two days ago, so we need to wait a bit,” he said.

“But for sure, he will be out for the next weeks.”

While Fofana’s injury comes as a blow, Maresca said that he has a number of options.

He explaimed: “It depends on the gameplan. Benoit (Badiashile) could be one of the solutions, but we also have Tosin, we have Axel (Disasi) who can play there.

“For sure, it’s a big loss, because Wes was doing fantastic every game, but we need to accept it and find solutions.”

Maresca also said he expects Reece James to be sidelined for a similar amount of time.

The Italian said: “It’s the same situation, more or less. He’s getting better, but he still needs weeks to come back.”