“Limping heavily” – Chelsea face potential injury issue with versatile regular who Maresca loved

Chelsea’s post match press conference last night was taken by interim coach Calum McFarlane, and the focus was on the red card that the Blues picked up.

That meant there was something that went ignored by the press – the apparent injury to Malo Gusto.

Chelsea pick up potential injury issue

Malo Gusto playing for Chelsea. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)

He’s a real warrior and racks up a lot of minutes, so it wasn’t that surprising to see him taken off in the second half, presumably with the many games in the rest of January in mind.

But we had noticed he was limping a little, and it doesn’t sound like things improved. Bobby Vincent of Football London was in the stadium and noticed Gusto leaving the stadium in a similar state:

“There is a slight injury scare for the Blues. Malo Gusto left Craven Cottage limping heavily on Wednesday evening. The France international played 76 minutes for the Blues before Josh Acheampong replaced him. Whether it was a bit of cramp, or an injury he suffered, remains to be seen.”

Gusto is a key player because he provides a rotation option for Reece James, who can’t play every game. Gusto also offers an option on the left, which the club have used a fair amount given how little Jorrel Hato is trusted as Marc Cucurella back up.

Let’s hope this is a minor one.

In other news…

Moises Caicedo had his work cut out last night, from the moment Andrey Santos was sent off, the Ecuador star was on his own in the middle, and he had to step up, as he always does. His stats from the game were ridiculous.

Chelsea tried a new setup last night, and we expect to see more of it when Liam Rosenior is in charge. One player is likely to suffer a benching, and he probably deserves it.