Chelsea issue worrying Romeo Lavia injury update as Enzo Maresca handed new blow

Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca has issued a worrying update on Romeo Lavia's condition following the Blues' 2-2 draw with Qarabag. The young midfielder was injured in the opening minutes of the match at Tofik Bakhramov Stadium on Wednesday night and was substituted for Moises Caicedo.

In a press conference in Baku, Maresca said: "We feel a shame for him, especially for him. He's not able to be fit for a long, long period. We will see now. It's too early to understand what kind of injury. I think it's his quad." Maresca acknowledged the risk of starting Lavia, comparing his situation to that of Reece James. Prior to the lengthy trip to Azerbaijan, he outlined his plan for the Belgian player.

"The main target for Romeo now is to be fit," Maresca said before the match. "Don't get any injuries. For me, at this moment, Romeo is where Reece was more or less one year ago in terms of back after a long time. We need to manage him every minute, every day, every second.

"And the target with him is just to keep him fit. So, he's training with us. He's OK. He's 100 per cent fit. But, we need to be very careful with him because we don't want him to be out again and finally he can enjoy being a football player."

Maresca added: "In the Forest game, we planned for him 45 minutes. Then Ajax, I think he played one hour, 70 minutes. The other day against Tottenham, when he was on, he was very good.

"We are happy with Romeo. We are happy with the way he's progressing. And the only thing we want is to keep him fit. So, I would like to have Romeo inside the pitch always. But it's my duty to try to protect also him."

Lavia appears likely to join Cole Palmer and Pedro Neto in the treatment room at Cobham. The former, who has been dealing with a groin injury this season, might be ready to face Barcelona at Stamford Bridge later this month.

On Tuesday, Maresca explained: "We hope so, but with Cole we try to plan, we try to schedule, you know, at the beginning. Then we need to review that. So in this moment we go day by day with Cole.

"He's not taking any session with the team. And we have Benoit Badiashile that probably can be available after the international break and that is for us is a huge news."

Regarding Neto, he sustained a minor injury in the 1-0 victory over Tottenham Hotspur at the weekend. When asked about the Chelsea winger, Maresca responded: "Yeah, not a problem, just a small issue. So we try to protect him. He's not involved in tomorrow's game."