Delap joined the Blues from Ipswich Town at the start of the summer and was a key part of the squad that lifted the Club World Cup.

The 22-year-old then featured in our first three games of this season but suffered a hamstring injury which ruled him out for two months.

A red card on his return delayed things further and after featuring in our last seven matches, he was forced off during the first half of Saturday's goalless draw at Bournemouth, after damaging his shoulder when being bundled over at a set-piece.

Maresca provided a positive injury update on Delap during his pre-match press conference. The striker was replaced by Marc Guiu for the final hour at the Vitality Stadium and the young Catalan is one of several options to Chelsea heading into tomorrow's Champions League clash with Atalanta.

Maresca said: 'In terms of the nine position, we had Liam two months out earlier in the season, unfortunately for him and us. Joao played as a nine, Pedro Neto played as a nine, Tyrique George also played as a nine earlier in the season. So we try to find solutions knowing that Liam is an important player for us and he needed to play games and get better and better. Unfortunately, he is now out and we will try to find solutions.’

The Blues are currently seventh in the Champions League table after five of our eight games at this phase, with the top eight qualifying automatically for the Round of 16 and the sides ninth to 24 going into a play-off round.

Atalanta have also had a decent start to the league phase, with the Italian's level with us on ten points in tenth place, while Raffaele Palladino's side are 12th in Serie A after 14 games.

Tomorrow's match will be our third in a row away from home and Maresca was asked if that was something which bothered him. However, the Italian highlighted the three-day turnaround is also an issue for his players due to the lack of recovery and preparation time.

He said: 'In terms of playing away, we were more points away than at home in the Premier League. In the Champions League, as you said, we played two games, we drew and lost, but in the end I think it's always things that balance out a bit at the end of the season.

'As far as away games are concerned, I'm not saying we're used to it, because it's hard to get used to, but not just away games, because there's no time between one game and the other. We played two days ago, we played two days before, but we're trying to adapt.'