Manager Enzo Maresca of Chelsea announced that captain Reece James is ready to play in his first Premier League match of the season on Sunday against Liverpool, having fully recovered from his injury.
James, the defender, started just five league games last season due to hamstring issues that have plagued him over the years.
Since suffering another hamstring injury during Chelsea’s preseason tour of the United States, he has not participated in any games.
“(James) is available. Finally he is back,” Maresca told reporters on Friday.
“He worked with us all the international break and it’s good news, especially for him because the injury is not a good feeling.
“Finally we have all the squad available apart from the suspended ones.”
The 24-year-old’s workload would need to be managed by Chelsea, the Italian continued, and limiting him to one match per week might assist with his recurrent injury issue.
“In this moment I think it can be the solution now. In the future, I don’t know,” Maresca said.
“If we want to build something with him in terms of physicality and physical condition, probably the solution is to allow him to go slowly and to use him once a week and then hopefully in the future, we can use him more during the week.”
Maresca also intends to handle Wesley Fofana and Romeo Lavia’s workloads similarly.
With Marc Cucurella and Fofana suspended following their fifth yellow card of the year, James’s probable return is a welcome breath of fresh air for Chelsea’s struggling defence.
In Maresca’s first season in command, his team has performed admirably, scoring 16 goals, one less than Manchester City’s league-leading 17.
However, they have lost 4-1 at Anfield in January and have not defeated Liverpool in their last five Premier League encounters.
“We are going to approach the game not thinking where we are, but preparing the game in the best way to get points,” he said.
“This game will not define where we are and in the event we lose? It’s just a process, it’s just a game. We will do our best.”
