Maresca plays down injury fears over Chelsea ace and details why he was substituted | OneFootball

Enzo Maresca has played down any injury fears over Wesley Fofana despite the defender being spotted with heavy strapping around his knee at full time against West Ham.

Fofana started the 3-0 win against the Hammers at right back with both Malo Gusto and Reece James out and Axel Disasi not performing well against Bournemouth.

The 23-year-old was fortunate not to give a penalty away in the first half when he pulled back Crysencio Summerville and he was taken off by Maresca after 57 minutes.

Maresca plays down Fofana injury fears

There was a moment in the first half where the France international went down and it appeared he had injured himself, although he got up and was able to continue much to the relief of all concerned at Chelsea.

Fofana has been plagued by injury issues since he arrived at Chelsea and missed the entire of last season with an ACL injury.

The Frenchman is seemingly a big part of Maresca’s plans and has started all five Premier League games, although he was worryingly spotted with strapping around his knee at full time.

Fofana was spotted with strapping around his knee at full time. (Photo by Getty Images)

However, speaking after the game the 44-year-old played down any fears over an injury to Fofana and said he substituted him in order to protect him.

“No, no, no [it’s not serious],” he told reporters.

“The reason why we changed him is because we try to protect him a little bit. In the second-half, they changed Kudus to this side and it was probably a big risk to keep him but there is not any injury.

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“Wes is a player I really love and we love with Wes because he is doing fantastic after one year of injury. For any player that is out for a year, it is not easy and he is doing top. This is the only thing we want from him.”

Fofana is likely to be rested on Tuesday night in the Carabao Cup against Barrow, and you would expect his next minutes to come against Brighton in the Premier League on Saturday.