Enzo Maresca says Benoit Badiashile and Trevoh Chalobah are ready to return in tomorrow's Conference League last-16 first leg against Copenhagen while goalkeeper Robert Sanchez will start for the Blues.
After topping the league phase, our European campaign resumes in the Danish capital. Maresca has named a 21-man squad for the Round of 16 fixture, which includes centre-back duo Badiashile and Chalobah.
Badiashile hasn't featured for the Blues since early December while Chalobah was absent from our victory over Southampton due to an injury sustained against Aston Villa. However, the duo are in contention to feature tomorrow evening.
‘They are both ready,' Maresca confirmed at his pre-match press conference. 'Trev, fortunately for us, was not something serious, so he is ok. Benoit is back and has been training with us in the last ten days, maybe even more.
'Wes is not in the squad but is back and Romeo started to train with us in the last two days. So slowly, slowly we have all the players back which is important for the final rush of the season.’
Maresca continued: ‘We said a few times that, unfortunately, our bad moment started with the amount of injuries. Now, some of them are back and some of them are in the process of coming back. That is a huge boost for me but also for the players.
'That is because you see players who were there for the first six or seven months of the season – when we were there [near the top of the Premier League table]. So it is important for the final rush of the season.’
Maresca also outlined why Sanchez will come into the Chelsea side against Copenhagen. The Spaniard didn't feature in the league phase of the competition, with Filip Jorgensen between the post for those fixtures.
‘Robert starts tomorrow, yes,’ said Maresca. ‘In this moment, he has played against Brighton away in the FA Cup, then he didn’t play in the Premier League, but tomorrow he is going to play. I have said many times about Robert, that it’s a matter of giving him different kinds of games and trying to help him.’
