There were no returnees from the crowded Chelsea treatment room for a Villa Park trip that saw them once again throw away a winning position following Enzo Fernandez’s early goal and miss the chance to rise back from sixth into the top four with a fourth defeat from their last five games, with Maresca confirming ahead of the match that he expected the bulk of his other absentees back in action along with Madueke after the international break.
Chelsea paid the price for yet another goalkeeping error against Villa, with Filip Jorgensen allowing Marco Asensio’s 89th-minute strike to slide underneath him to seal another frustrating loss after the Spaniard had earlier cancelled out Fernandez’s opener by netting from close range, both assists coming from fellow January arrival Marcus Rashford.
The 25-year-old - who was part of the so-called Chelsea ‘bomb squad’ exiled in the summer as the club looked to move several players on - started again in Saturday night’s 2-1 Premier League defeat at Aston Villa, but lasted just eight minutes before suffering an apparent back injury and needing to be replaced by Tosin Adarabioyo.
On the Chelsea goalkeeper situation in general, Maresca said: “The 'keeper position is a delicate one because the striker can miss the goal and sometimes it doesn't look so important but when a 'keeper makes a mistake, it's so clear and everyone can see that.
However, after what he labelled as the “toughest” defeat of his reign so far, Maresca refused to lay the blame at Jorgensen’s door and insisted the blunder would not decide who starts in goal for Tuesday night’s visit of rock-bottom Southampton to Stamford Bridge.
