Chelsea: Enzo Maresca drops Tyrique George team selection hint before Aston Villa clash | OneFootball

The teenager could see his senior minutes increase with the Blues without several senior attackers

Your matchday briefing on Chelsea, featuring team news and expert analysis from Malik Ouzia

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The majority of the teenager’s senior minutes have come in the Conference League, though he did start the FA Cup third round win over Morecambe and was brought on to chase the game as the Blues were beaten by Brighton in round four.

However, with Mykhailo Mudryk provisionally suspended from football after testing positive for a banned substance earlier this season following an “adverse finding in a routine urine test”, Noni Madueke sidelined through injury and Jadon Sancho struggling for form, the door has been opened for the 19-year-old.

Speaking ahead of Chelsea’s Premier League clash away at Aston Villa, Maresca has dropped a hint as to whether George could start at Villa Park.

“For sure, he’s a young one. He’s not probably ready 100 per cent. But because of the amount of injuries we have, we need to use the ones we have.

“Ty is a young profile, he’s doing well.

“Hopefully we can give him more chances and he can help us.”

It would appear that Maresca isn’t yet ready to hand George a full Premier League debut, though it seems the young winger can look forward to increased game time in the coming weeks.

The Chelsea boss has shown in recent games against Brighton that he is ready to turn to the teenager in search of a result and that could be a warning to keep Sancho and Pedro Neto, in particular, on their toes.