Maresca updates on duo and the need to rotate

The Blues welcome Unai Emery’s side to Stamford Bridge looking to close the seven-point gap they have over us, which sees them sitting one place above us in the Premier League table.

We head into the game off the back of an encouraging come-from-behind draw away at Newcastle. Jamie Gittens was absent from that victory, while Jorrel Hato suffered a knock in the warm-up, and Maresca has updated on the duo’s fitness ahead of Villa’s visit.

‘Jamie was not in the squad [vs Newcastle] because the day before, in the final training session, he had a problem in his shoulder,’ Maresca revealed.

‘He is back now though and is okay for Villa. Hato suffered an injury during the warm-up against Newcastle, at half-time. He is out for tomorrow’s game.’

With a busy festive period seeing the Blues set for 11 games between now and the end of January, Maresca has said that he will look to rotate his squad to keep players as fresh as possible and to help with the workload.

‘I think this [rotation] will be very important,’ the head coach explained.

‘We have 11 games until the end of January but then in February, we will have another eight or nine games.

‘So, it’s how we arrive in March, April in terms of energy, rotation, that will be very important. I already showed that we rotate players and for sure, now, with the number of games we have, we need to do that.’