Dario Essugo has been ruled out of Chelsea's next four games in a fresh injury blow for head coach Enzo Maresca.
Essugo has suffered a setback on his return to match action following an injury and is set to miss matches against Bournemouth, Atalanta and Everton after first sitting out of Wednesday’s trip to Leeds.
The 20-year-old defensive midfielder was named among the substitutes for Chelsea’s opening three matches of the season but is still awaiting his first appearance since the Club World Cup due to a thigh injury suffered on Portugal Under-21 duty in September which required surgery.
Essugo returned to full first-team training for the first time on Friday, but Maresca’s hopes of him helping to cover for Moises Caicedo during the Ecuadorian’s three-game league suspension following a red card against Arsenal were dashed when Essugo suffered a delay in his return.
Maresca said on Tuesday that Essugo must now “slow down a little bit” due to a small setback sustained in training on Monday.
Asked whether Essugo might be available to come into the midfield against Leeds, Bournemouth or Everton while Caicedo serves his suspension, Maresca replied: “For sure, he [Essugo] is not available for the next three games.
“I don’t think [it is serious]. We need to check him, as it happened yesterday. Unfortunately it was just yesterday so I don’t know.”
It is expected that Brazilian international Andrey Santos will deputise in the coming three league games as Maresca looks to mitigate the loss of Caicedo.
But the Ecuadorian has barely had a rest this season, and Maresca admitted that Caicedo’s suspension will at least allow him a period of recuperation during a busy part of the season.
“It's the positive part, yeah,” Maresca said. “For sure, yeah. He's playing every game also with the international team. Probably this break will give him a little bit more rest.
“Next Tuesday we have a Champions League game, so he's going to be available for Atalanta. That is the game in one week. But it's a chance for him also to recover.”
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