We didn’t hear from the managers of Chelsea or Tottenham Hotspur before the Gameweek 30 deadline of Fantasy Premier League (FPL) – but we have now.
Enzo Maresca held his press conference on Wednesday morning, while Ange Postecoglou has been speaking to in-house media.
CHELSEA
Nicolas Jackson (hamstring), Cole Palmer (muscle) and Noni Madueke (hamstring) look set to return to action on Thursday night.
The trio were back in training over the international break, with Palmer returning from a much shorter-term absence than his two teammates.
“Cole is back, he is ok. He is better. Noni is better. Nico is better. They are all good.” – Enzo Maresca
“The reason why he was not with the international team is because, unfortunately for us, the day before Arsenal, he had a muscle problem that was not a big issue but didn’t allow him to play the Arsenal game and join the international team.
“We always say that going with the international team is the best thing for a player but overall, I think some days off for Cole and also for the rest was a good thing.” – Enzo Maresca on Cole Palmer
Romeo Lavia is a doubt with a “small problem”, meanwhile.
Marc Guiu (hamstring) and Omari Kellyman (hamstring) remain out, while Mykhailo Mudryk is still provisionally banned by the Football Association.
Maresca meanwhile said he would continue to manage Reece James‘ minutes carefully.
“I still think that we need to manage Reece, the reason why is because of the history. He is a player that you need to be careful with in this moment. We want him fit until the end [of the season], so the idea is to manage him to the end and then we see in the future if we can go every day, every day, every day. But in this moment, because we need Reece until the end [of the season], we will try to manage him and probably do exactly the same until the end.” – Enzo Maresca
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR
Ange Postecoglou confirmed that Kevin Danso (hamstring) and Dejan Kulusevski (foot) remain out ahead of the clash with Chelsea.
We may not see the pair till Gameweek 33, indeed.
“Kevin and Deki are working still, they’re probably still a couple of weeks away but both are progressing well.” – Ange Postecoglou
Thursday’s match may also come too soon for Richarlison (calf), who is at least back in training.
“Richy’s training with the group. Again, it’s about when we reintroduce him to the matchday squad but he’s training with the main training group, which is positive.” – Ange Postecoglou
Lucas Bergvall, who was suffering from illness while away with Sweden, is “fine”.
The Lilywhites also have no fresh injury concerns from over the international break.
Radu Dragusin (knee) is out for the season.
