Enzo Maresca provides clearest Reece James hint yet as Chelsea boss makes Liam Delap admission

Reece James is at the peak of his fitness at the moment and Enzo Maresca has insisted the Chelsea captain is ready to play three times in a week.

The 25-year-old struggled with consistent muscular problems throughout the 2022/23 and 2023/24 seasons, missing a whopping 72 games over that two-year period. James, though, decided to undergo surgery on his hamstring in December 2023 to try and fix the recurring problem.

Since returning from injury in December 2024, James has been an ever-present figure under Maresca, though the Chelsea head coach has had to manage his playing time.

• Jamie Carragher makes Enzo Maresca and Pep Guardiola comment in huge praise for Chelsea boss
• Chelsea dealt injury scare before Champions League clash

Maresca has used James in all but three matches this season, the two Carabao Cup victories and the Champions Leaguewin over Ajax last month. The Blues boss is now confident the England international can be used three times in the space of seven days.

“Reece is good,” said Maresca. “He’s doing well, he is fit 100%. The way he behaves every game is top; even when he’s not playing. Inside the changing room, the way he is with his teammates. Now yes, I think he is ready to play three games in a week.

“It also depends, I said many times, also depends on the way we use Reece. We didn’t use him up and down. It’s a big job for him, for Malo [Gusto], for any full-back to continue to go up and down. We use the full-backs in a different way. Probably we also protect and save him in the way we try to play. I think he is ready to play three games in a week.”

Chelsea embarked on an almost 5000-mile round trip to Baku, Azerbaijan, on Tuesday as Maresca looks to make it three wins on the bounce in the Champions League against Qarabag.

The Azerbaijani side, like Chelsea, sit on six points going into this evening’s fixture. The Blues will be without Pedro Neto, who has not travelled with the rest of the squad to Baku as he nurses a minor injury issue.

Liam Delap is set to return to the Chelsea squad after he served his one-match suspension against Tottenham following his red card last week in the win over Wolves.

Maresca is backing the 22-year-old striker to come good for the Blues and believes he will be a big help for him over the course of the campaign.

“Liam is back,” Maresca confirmed. “He is an important player for us. He’s an option for tomorrow. I don’t have any doubt that at the end of the season, we’re going to be very happy with Liam in terms of goals, in terms of also the way he works off the ball, how intense he is when we need to press. So, no doubt he is going to help us.”