Chelsea: Enzo Maresca explains why Reece James did not start in Conference League final win over Real Betis | OneFootball

Chelsea captain started final on the bench in Wroclaw

Silverware: Reece James lifted his first trophy as the club’s captain

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Enzo Maresca insisted he wishes he could start Reece James every match, but will not do so due to concerns over the Chelsea captain’s injury record.

He has largely been available since then but Maresca has remained wary of James’ workload and he opted to start the right-back on the bench in the Conference League final against Real Betis, three days after he played the full 90 minutes against Nottingham Forest.

James was introduced at half-time in Wroclaw with his side behind and played his part as Chelsea clicked into gear to win 4-1, lifting the first trophy of the post-Roman Abramovich era. Enzo Fernandez equalised and Nicolas Jackson put the Blues in front, before Jadon Sancho and Moises Caicedo added late goals.

Malo Gusto endured a nightmare 45 minutes in the first-half, giving the ball away for Betis’ goal and regularly being caught out of position, but Maresca defended him as he explained the decision not to start James.

“I promise you, I would start always with Reece,” Maresca said.

“But I’m trying to protect him. He played more games this season than the last two, three years. He’s happy, he knows that. He’s a top player for us. It’s like Cole [Palmer], the problem is we need to manage him.

“When we changed him, he said to me, ‘boss don’t worry, we’re going to win the game’.”

On Gusto, the Chelsea boss added: “Malo is one of my favourite players. The problem is the first goal we conceded, it was from his pass. He missed the pass.

“They are young. They don’t understand that if you [make a] mistake, it doesn’t matter. You have to continue. When we lost the ball and conceded, he was out of the game. But he knows, for me Malo is a top player.”

James lifted the trophy for Chelsea, capping a successful season for the club in which a return to the Champions League was also secured.

The 25-year-old admitted it was “devastating” not to start the final, but was confident he would still have a key role to play.

"Of course it is devastating to know you are not starting in a final,” James said.

“I want to play every game but it was the manager's decision. Once he made the decision, I had to move on and accept it and be ready when I was needed."