Wesley Fofana likely to miss rest of Chelsea’s season with muscle injury | OneFootball

Chelsea defender Wesley Fofana is set to miss the rest of the season through injury but midfielder Romeo Lavia and forward Marc Guiu could be involved in the run-in.

Fofana has a muscle problem and not featured since starting last month’s 1-0 Premier League loss at Arsenal.

Lavia has made only two Premier League starts since December 1 and suffered a setback in his rehabilitation from a hamstring issue after making his comeback as a late substitute in the game against the Gunners on March 16.

Enzo Maresca’s men are in Poland for the first leg of their Conference League quarter-final against Legia Warsaw.

“We are going to support them for sure because they are our players, because they are young, and because they are human beings and in a moment where they struggle for different reasons, we need to support them,” head coach Maresca told a press conference ahead of Thursday evening’s match.

“Unfortunately, Wes will be out for the rest of the season. Hopefully we can get (back) Romeo very soon. I don’t know if for the next game but he looks quite good in terms of being back soon.

“We need to support both and then at the end of the season we will see.”

Spain Under-19 forward Guiu sustained a long-term injury in Chelsea’s 2-1 win over West Ham in early February.

The 19-year-old, who joined from Barcelona last summer, hit six goals during the league phase of the Conference League.

“We have good news on Marc,” said Maresca.

“From today he looks quite good, much better, and he can be back before the season finishes.”

Chelsea sit fourth in the top flight, level on points with fifth-placed Newcastle, following Sunday’s goalless draw at west London rivals Brentford as they chase Champions League qualification.

Maresca urged his young team to remain calm amid what is anticipated to be a hostile home crowd in the Polish capital.

“First of all, we cannot allow external things to change the way we think or behave,” he said, referring to the atmosphere.

“For sure tomorrow the environment here will be nice. We need to experience this kind of game, this kind of moment, that for sure after tomorrow’s game we are going to be a better team because we need that.