We return to action at Stamford Bridge tomorrow evening and will be looking to get back to winning ways after suffering a disappointing defeat to Villa on Saturday.

We will be without long-term absentees Levi Colwill, Dario Essugo and Romeo Lavia for the visit of the Cherries, and Maresca doesn’t anticipate Hato to be ready to return from the injury he sustained in the half-time warm-up against Newcastle United.

‘For Bournemouth, no, I don’t think [he will be ready to feature],’ the Blues head coach explained at his pre-match press conference, which was undertaken on Saturday.

While our defeat to Villa on Saturday was frustrating, the respective returns from injury of Liam Delap, Jamie Gittens and Estevao Willian were positives for the Blues.

Maresca also confirmed that Fofana was unused against Unai Emery's side solely to ‘manage his fitness condition’. The centre-back has not started back-to-back matches for the Blues this term as his workload continues to be carefully handled following injury.

That process was undertaken with Reece James early in 2025 and has paid off; the Blues skipper has featured in all but one of our league matches this season and played five of our six Champions League fixtures.

Cole Palmer has also been built up slowly in recent weeks following his two-and-a-half-month spell on the sidelines due to groin and toe injuries.

Both players started against Villa on Saturday and Maresca said they would need to be assessed ahead of the visit from the Cherries. ‘We will need to see how they are,’ Maresca replied when asked about the duo’s fitness. ‘Then we will need to decide [if they face Bournemouth].

‘Reece is doing very well, no matter which position he is playing, he is helping a lot. After the effort against Aston Villa, we will have to see how he is for Bournemouth. But again, we are happy that he is fit.’