James hit by fresh injury blow

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Chelsea captain Reece James has suffered a new injury setback after being ruled out of Saturday’s clash against Leicester with a hamstring problem.

James only returned to action in October after missing the start of the season.

But Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca revealed on Thursday the 24-year-old England right-back will not be available for the trip to the King Power Stadium in the Premier League this weekend.

Maresca hopes the problem won’t keep James out for too long, but given the Chelsea captain’s recent history of injury woes, the Italian is not willing to take any risks.

“Reece, unfortunately, felt something small and we don’t want to take any risks this weekend,” Maresca told reporters.

“Hopefully it’s not something longer. He felt something, he has to be out and then we’ll see. It’s his hamstring, a muscle problem.”

James has struggled to stay fit for much of the last two seasons, but Maresca is still confident he can eventually shake off his injury-plagued reputation.

“For sure,” he added. “But in this moment it is not happening.”

Cole Palmer and Levi Colwill pulled out of England duty over the international break due to fitness concerns, while Maresca also has doubts over Romeo Lavia, Malo Gusto, Wesley Fofana and Jadon Sancho.

“Some of them are better, some of them we’ll test today,” he said of Chelsea’s walking wounded.

England captain Harry Kane criticised the nine players who opted out of England duty, insisting playing for the Three Lions should come before anything else.

There were suggestions that managers had persuaded their England players to stay away to avoid injuries at a busy time of the season.

But, asked if he had any contact with the England camp over the withdrawals of Palmer and Colwill, Maresca said: “To be honest we played Arsenal and then I left for a week.”

Maresca will be making his first trip back to Leicester since guiding the Foxes to promotion from the Championship last season, before quitting to replace Mauricio Pochettino at Stamford Bridge.

It will be an emotional occasion for Maresca, who said: “First of all I’m excited and also thankful.

“It was a fantastic season because I met good people and in terms of players it was fantastic.

“We had a fantastic connection between the players and staff, this is something you need to create when you want to make something important.

“I will be thankful to them all my life, we have a special connection.”

© Agence France-Presse

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