Enzo Maresca has confirmed that two of Chelsea’s forgotten men will be in the squad for Tuesday’s Carabao Cup tie against League Two leaders Barrow.
After a convincing win against West Ham on Saturday attention now switches to the first domestic competition of the season.
Having lost the final last season the Blues will be hoping to go one better this year as they search for a first domestic trophy since the FA Cup in 2017 and a first trophy under the new ownership.
Maresca confirms Chilwell and Chukwuemeka will be in the squad
With a game against Brighton on Saturday the visit of Barrow gives Maresca the opportunity to heavily rotate the side and give an opportunity to those players who haven’t featured much this season.
The Italian has already confirmed youngsters Tyrique George and Josh Acheampong will be in the squad, whilst Malo Gusto is available again after injury.
However, Maresca could hand two forgotten men in Ben Chilwell and Carney Chukwuemeka their first minutes of the season after confirming the pair would be in the match day squad.
“They [the likes of Chilwell, Chukwuemeka, George and Acheampong] are going to be the ones who will be in the squad [vs Barrow],” he told his pre-match press conference.
“Some we will see if they start, but if not they will all be on the bench and hopefully we can give them some [minutes].”
For Chilwell and Chukwuemeka it’s been a difficult start to the season with neither player getting any minutes so far.
Chukwuemeka has been plagued by injury issues and after starting the first two games of pre-season he’s not been seen since and there’s clearly something Maresca isn’t convinced by with him, although he is still training with the squad.
For Chilwell the game against Barrow offers a potential opportunity to show what he’s capable of and put himself in the shop window to try and attract more suitors.
Whether one or both feature is unlikely to make any difference to their long term futures at the club and it’s likely they will both leave next summer at the latest.
