Manager Enzo Maresca announced on Monday that Chelsea centre back Trevoh Chalobah will be sidelined for at least a week due to an injury sustained during the team’s 2-1 Premier League loss to Aston Villa over the weekend.
The absence of Chalobah adds to the lengthy list of injuries for seventh-place Chelsea, which also includes Wesley Fofana, Romeo Lavia, Noni Madueke, and Nicolas Jackson skipping Saturday’s trip to Villa.
“He had a check yesterday and he will be around one week to 10 days,” Maresca said about Chalobah ahead of Tuesday’s home game against Southampton.
“On one side it is good because it is not an important injury but on the other side it is a shame because we lose another player at this moment with the amount of injuries that we had.”
Villa scored a late second goal thanks to a mistake made by goalie Filip Jorgensen, giving Chelsea their third consecutive defeat across all competitions.
Jorgensen was still his number one goalie, according to Maresca.
“He feels a little bit sad and upset because he recognises it was a mistake but overall he is okay,” the manager added.
Despite being at the bottom of the league, Chelsea, who are only one point below fourth-place Manchester City, will have a difficult test against Southampton, according to Maresca.
“I don’t trust games like this; they can be tricky games. If you watch the game against Manchester United away they were winning 1-0 until the last five minutes,” he said.
“It’s a tricky one and from now on, every game, every team is playing for something so they are all going to be tough.”
Maresca, the former manager of Leicester City, stated that Chelsea had made progress but still needed to achieve some victories to gain momentum.
“When you are at Chelsea, I don’t think you have games you don’t prepare to win.
“Our duty is to prepare for every game to win. From now on we have 12 games to go and no doubt all of them are must-win for us,” he said.
“I have the feeling that winning one, we can build a good momentum again. That is what I think in this moment the players need.”