Enzo Maresca slams ‘totally wrong decision’ after Chelsea suffer double injury blow

Enzo Maresca has condemned the ‘completely wrong’ determination for Chelsea to play connected transportation deadline time aft losing some Nicolas Jackson and Marc Guiu to wounded successful the last hours of the January window.

The Blues sealed a 2-1 triumph implicit West Ham United successful a crippled that kicked disconnected conscionable hours earlier the mid-season transportation model closed connected 2 February.

Jackson suffered a hamstring wounded successful the first-half of the lucifer and portion helium tried to continue, was forced disconnected aboriginal successful the 2nd period. His replacement Guiu besides picked up a sound successful the second-half.

Jackson is present expected to beryllium sidelined until April with Guiu besides facing a spell retired with some strikers struggling with hamstring issues.

It was a engaged last time astatine Stamford Bridge with Joao Felix, Ben Chilwell and Carney Chukwuemeka leaving connected indebtedness but the timing of injuries for Jackson and Guiu near the nine with nary clip to bring successful replacements.

‘I deliberation it’s wholly wrong,’ Maresca said of the scheduling decision, with Chelsea and West Ham the lone Premier League sides successful enactment connected deadline day.

‘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.’

Christopher Nkunku, who was linked with moves to Bayern Munich and Manchester United past month, would look champion placed to measurement successful for Jackson and pb the Chelsea onslaught successful the coming weeks.

But Maresca has suggested helium volition see different options, insisting the Frenchman ‘is not a nine’.

‘Christo is simply a solution but not the lone solution,’ helium said. ‘I said galore times I see Christo a precise important subordinate from the start.

‘Now besides with the transportation model closed, everyone is present and helium tin assistance america until the end. We are moving to find a antithetic solution. It tin beryllium Christo but besides a antithetic benignant of player.

‘I said since time 1 that Christo is not a nine, helium is an attacking midfielder. We cognize precise good that Christo is not a nine. They (Nkunku and Jackson) are antithetic connected the shot and disconnected the ball.

‘Sometimes we kick astir players but past erstwhile they don’t play, you realise however important they are. He [Jackson] didn’t play against Brighton and past everyone was reasoning it is hard to play without a nine.

‘We cognize precisely however bully Nico is connected and disconnected the ball. Christo is wholly antithetic connected and disconnected the ball.’