Chelsea left-back Ben Chilwell could make his first appearance under new boss Enzo Maresca as the Blues gear up to face League Two side Barrow in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday night.
The 27-year-old looked to be frozen out by Maresca earlier in the summer, with Chilwell not part the Italian’s plans but after no suitable offers were made for him, Chilwell is set to make a return to the squad.
Last week, Maresca announced the situation had changed and now plans to name Chilwell in his matchday squad for the third-round cup tie after welcoming him back into first-team training.
Asked if the 27-year-old will feature, Maresca said: “I think so. Hopefully we can give him some minutes tomorrow.
“The idea for him was to leave. In the moment that he’s here, he’s one of the squad, he’s training.
“He will be in the squad tomorrow and hopefully we can give him some minutes.”
Chilwell was part of a group of players who had been separate to the first team, with the likes of Raheem Sterling, Trevoh Chalobah and Conor Gallagher all reportedly within that number in their final days at the club.
So far this season, Maresca has opted with Marc Cucurella and Portugal international Renato Veiga as his left-back’s, with Levi Colwill also previously having shown his ability to play in that position.
Chilwell’s last competitive appearance was a two-minute cameo in Chelsea’s 1-0 FA Cup semi-final loss to Manchester City on April 20.
He was hampered by hamstring and knee injuries last season and has not started a game since England’s 2-2 friendly draw with Belgium on March 26.
Since moving from Leicester City in 2020 for a fee of around £50m, Chilwell has failed to hit the heights most would have imagined him to, having suffered from a number of different injuries.
Maresca certainly has a whole host of options to choose from for the clash against a team that sits 64 places below Chelsea in the football pyramid, and he has urged his players to make the most of the opportunity that they will be given.
He said: “They are players that train every day very good but unfortunately I cannot give them chances,” he said.
“All the players that are not getting so many chances, tomorrow is a good chance for them to get minutes and to hopefully win a game.”
Chelsea will be aiming to go one better in this competition as they did last campaign, having failed to beat a youthful Liverpool in the final earlier this year in a game where Chilwell started under former boss Mauricio Pochettino.
Despite winning promotion with Leicester to the Premier League last season, Maresca has never won a trophy as as a manager, so he will be striving to put things right with the League Cup the first opportunity for silverware in the season.
Chelsea will be aiming to extend their unbeaten run to four games against Barrow, having beaten West Ham, Bournemouth and avoiding defeat against Crystal Palace in their previous three outings.
