Every word Enzo Maresca said on Reece James injury, Chelsea team news, Leicester City return

Enzo Maresca has faced the media ahead of Chelsea's Premier League visit to Leicester City on Saturday afternoon.

The Blues go to the Foxes as they look to kick off a really busy period with three points with Maresca returning to the King Power Stadium for the first time since he left the club and was appointed Chelsea head coach. Ahead of the match, Maresca spoke to the media about a variety of topics and here is every word the Italian had to say...

Any injury news?

"We have just one injured player, that is Reece. He felt something and we don't want to take any risks for the weekend. He is the only one that is not available for this weekend.

"The rest, some of them are better, some of them are still a doubt and we need to wait. Today is the first session we do with all the players [returning] from international. So we will see after today's session."

What area of his body?

"Hamstring. It's a muscular problem. We don't want to take any risks for this weekend and hopefully it's not something long."

How are you feeling about returning to the King Power Stadium?

"First of all, excited and also thankful because it was a fantastic season. I met people that are very difficult to find in football; the owner, his family, they are fantastic human beings. They care for the players, the staff, all of the people who work inside the club. You can see that.

"It was a fantastic season because I met good people and then in terms of players, it was top, it was fantastic. It was a fantastic connection between the players and the staff. This is something you need to create and I will be thankful for all of my life to that squad.

"Most of them, I am still in contact with them so there is still a connection. For me, it was a fantastic season."

From a tactical point of view, can it help you knowing the team and the players so well?

"Probably from the other side, they know exactly what we do. It's on both sides. We are going to try and adjust small details to see if we can do something different."

Going forward, what is the biggest improvement you want to see? Some people would point to the defence...

"I said many times, we can attack better and we can defend better. But in the Premier League, there are only four or five clubs that have conceded less than us. So that means with defending, we are doing quite well.

"If people think we are not going to concede, I've said many times that is PlayStation, not football. We are going to concede goals until the end. For sure, 100%. There are just four or five clubs that have conceded less than us. So I don't know why people are thinking we are defending bad.

"If you ask me, for sure, 100%, there are things we can do better, no doubt, in both situations."

Do you know your best defence? Your full-backs have changed quite a bit...

"Yeah, but also, we changed full-backs in the way we want to play; we move the full-back a lot. We do not move the central defenders. Hopefully one day we can start to move the central defender but in this moment we are moving the full-backs and this is probably why in this moment we are changing them.

"Overall, it's not just about the defending. It's about the way we press."

How much do international performances factor into your thinking? Joao Felix played well for Portugal. Could we see him and Cole Palmer playing together soon?

"Yeah, this could be a target for the future; to see both of them playing together. International break is good, first of all for the ones that don't go with their international teams so they can recover and for the ones that do go, some of them, like Joao, did fantastic.

"But Joao is doing well with us since day one. The only problem is trying to find balance when we are trying to prepare the game. For us, for all of the clubs, there is always a little bit of doubt because we do not know how they are going to come back.

"As I said, today is the first session - 48 hours before the game - that we worked with 12, 13, 14 players that were with internationals. Some of them came back this morning from Argentina, from South America, so it is not easy. We will see. We still have 48 hours."

Who else can play in the base of midfield?

"Renato Veiga did it in some games, but he also played 180 minutes with Portugal. In the cup, Cesare Casadei did very well but he also played both games with Italy U21s. So, for sure, the ones that will play will not be 100 per cent because they are human beings.

"When you play two games in South America and you have to come back and play, even if you are only 20 years old or 25, you are tired, it doesn’t matter, you’re a human being. Hopefully, we can find the right balance."

How can you make sure there is no complacency?

"It’s not an easy game, absolutely. You can see week after week that it’s always complicated, no matter which team or where you are in the table, you struggle. We’ll try to make sure we’re focused and prepared. We try to prepare the best way and try to win."

Reece James - are these setbacks almost expected now?

"No, as I said, he felt something. He has to be out, for sure this weekend and then we’ll see. At the moment we don’t know how long. Then we’ll see."

Can he play for a long period?

"For sure, but at the moment it’s not happening. Hopefully it can happen soon."

What was the conversation like with England when Cole Palmer and Levi Colwill withdrew from the squad?

"To be honest, we played Arsenal and then I left for one week so I don’t know about the conversation between the club and the national team."

How are they?

"Some of them are better, some of them we will test today but overall, for sure, they are much better."

When was Reece James' injury?

"It was two days ago."

How is he mentally?

"I know it’s not easy, but if every time he is getting an injury it becomes hard for him, for me it’s even worse. He has to accept that. He has to try to avoid it as much as he can.

"But sometimes things happen even if you want to avoid them. This weekend he’s not available. Now we start to play every three days so it’s probably difficult he could be available for the Conference but hopefully he can be available soon."

Are you a better coach now after leaving Leicester?

"I work every day to become better so I hope that because I like to see things and analyse, you can improve. We try to improve players but also we need to improve us as staff and as a manager.

"I try to improve every day and hopefully I don’t know if I’m better or worse. The important thing is I’m always curious to see things and study. That’s the only thing I’m focused on."

Did you have a break last week?

"I took until Thursday completely off. Then from Thursday we started again."

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