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Liam Delap is set to travel to Wolverhampton for Chelsea’s Carabao Cup fourth-round clash with Enzo Maresca saying his striker is ready to appear for the first time since August.
It would be a surprise to see Delap start the cup tie but his availability is a welcome boost for Maresca after two months on the sidelines because of a hamstring injury.
Chelsea may allow several players to skip this trip, with Moises Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez and Joao Pedro among those who have struggled with fitness issue of late.
With a Premier League showdown with Tottenham coming next, Maresca is planning on rotating his team, and that might be good news for Vitor Pereira. The Wolves boss is fighting for his job after a dismal start to their season.
‘Yes, we need to rotate,’ Maresca said. ‘We need to protect the players because if we go with the same XI, we are going to struggle during the season. We probably will make some changes against Wolves. I don’t know how many, but we will make changes.
Liam Delap has been missing for Chelsea since injurying his hamstring against Fulham in September
Delap joined the Blues over the summer and helped power them to Club World Cup glory
‘I don’t know if it’s going to be nine or 10 like it was from (Nottingham) Forest or Ajax, but for sure we need to make some rotation and help protect the players.
‘Enzo, Moi, Joao Pedro – they are all players, for different reasons, we need to protect them.’
On Delap, Maresca added: ‘Liam is available for the game. He completed the whole session with us yesterday with no problems and he is available for tomorrow.
‘We have to be careful with Liam. Ninety minutes? No. He’s been out for two months so he needs to be gradually brought back up to 100 per cent.’
