Reece James gives fitness update ahead of Chelsea vs Man City clash
London: Chelsea captain Reece James has shared a positive update on social media following a minor injury sustained in training. Despite his ongoing struggles with fitness, James remains upbeat, posting a photo of himself training with the caption, "Good to be back on the grass." Although he was set to miss the start of the season due to a four-match ban for violent conduct against Brighton’s Joao Pedro, James is anticipated to return for the fixture against West Ham after the September internationals. Chelsea will be cautious with his recovery, given his recent injury issues.
Earlier, Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca had provided an injury update on James ahead of their much anticipated Premier League campaign opener against defending champions Manchester City.
The English full-back's last season was plagued by a recurring hamstring injury and other injuries as well. Throughout Chelsea's campaign, he made only 11 appearances across all competitions. The 24-year-old provided two assists in his limited number of appearances.
James suffered a hamstring injury in the match against Real Madrid and was subbed off in the 70th minute of the game.
Ahead of their season opener, Maresca stated that they are looking to adopt such a plan to ensure that last season's crisis does not replicate.
"It depends on the injury because sometimes, if it's a kick, it's not because training is no good, it's an unlucky kick and you got injured. The only thing I can say, and I wasn't here last year, is that in one month, we have had just one injury problem, which is Reece. Unfortunately, he got an injury two or three minutes before we were going to change him, otherwise we would have avoided it. That can happen," he said in a pre-match press conference, as quoted from the club's official website.
"Sometimes injuries can be because of different things, but we are managing the situation well. We managed players the other day against Inter, Christo didn't start because he played so many minutes in pre-season and didn't play many last year. Wesley didn't play the game before, so he can then start," he added.
Maresca confirmed that apart from James, the rest of the squad is fit and available for selection. The Italian believes that the talented squad has the potential to improve.
"One of the reasons why I accepted the move to Chelsea is because it's one of the biggest clubs in the world, but also because the squad is very good. I had the opportunity to analyse it when I had the first contact with the club," he said.
"The squad is full of talent, and they are perfect for the way I like to play. This is one of the reasons why I am here because I'm convinced the players we have are very good, and they can still improve. I am quite confident about that," he added. (With inputs from Agencies)