Chelsea: Enzo Maresca slams 'completely wrong' decision to make Blues play on deadline day

Enzo Maresca has blasted the “completely wrong” Premier League scheduling that forced Chelsea to play connected transportation deadline day, aft helium was dealt a centre-forward wounded situation successful the last hours of the window.

The Blues bushed West Ham 2-1 connected the past time of the model this month, but triumph came astatine a outgo arsenic archetypal Nicolas Jackson and past Marc Guiu suffered hamstring injuries.

Both players are acceptable for important spells connected the sidelines, with Maresca confirming connected Thursday that first-choice No9 Nicolas Jackson volition not instrumentality until aft helium March planetary break.

Those injuries person formed a dim airy connected Chelsea’s determination not to fortify their guardant enactment successful January, but Maresca alternatively directed his vexation astatine the timing of the London derby, which near the nine nary clip to respond successful the transportation market.

Chelsea and West Ham were the lone clubs to play connected the Monday nighttime of deadline day, with the remainder of top-flight clubs successful enactment implicit the weekend.

“I deliberation it’s wholly wrong,” Maresca said of his broadside having to play arsenic the model drew to close.

“No [we can’t program for it] and the crushed is that we had 2 injuries connected the deadline. We finished the crippled astatine 10pm and the deadline was 11pm. You cannot program to get injuries to 2 strikers successful the aforesaid game.

“It’s impossible, but it happened and present we request to find solutions due to the fact that we didn’t person clip to spell for a No9.

“It’s thing you cannot plan, successful the aforesaid game, connected the deadline, 2 strikers some injured. It’s hard to program that.”

Despite the injuries, Maresca confirmed Chelsea volition not look to marque a escaped cause signing, nor cancel plans to nonstop Deivid Washington to Brazilian broadside Santos connected loan, should that woody beryllium confirmed.

He besides insisted helium has nary regrets implicit allowing Joao Felix to articulation AC Milan connected indebtedness connected deadline day.

“We didn't marque a determination for 1 week oregon 1 day,” helium said. “We sat and made a determination reasoning astir antithetic things. Joao is blessed successful Milan and we are blessed that helium is blessed there.”