Chelsea wary of overloading defender Wesley Fofana after lengthy injury absences

Chelsea head coach Liam Rosenior said the club will not overload Wesley Fofana after serious injuries ruined the defender’s last two seasons.

The France international was rested and not on the pitch when the Blues suffered a defensive lapse to gift Leeds an equaliser during Tuesday night’s 2-2 draw at Stamford Bridge.

Last week he played 90 minutes in the team’s Carabao Cup semi-final defeat to Arsenal and the Premier League win over Wolves, the first time since November he had completed back-to-back matches played three days apart.

An anterior cruciate ligament injury caused him to miss the entirety of the 2023/24 season whilst the last campaign was also badly disrupted by a hamstring problem which required surgery.

Josh Acheampong started in his place against Leeds and was a part of the defensive mix-up that allowed Jayden Bogle to set up Noah Okafor to score as Chelsea were ambushed having dominated to that point.

Defending the decision to leave Fofana out, Rosenior said: “I think you can over analyse. It doesn’t matter who was on the pitch in that moment, we should have dealt with that situation. We’re talking about isolated incidents that have cost us two points.

“Wes has had injury issues. I want to make sure he doesn’t break down again. Always you want consistency in your back line. I’m sure we’ll get there in the end.”

Fofana has made 24 appearances in all competitions this season, already his best return in a single campaign since joining from Leicester in 2022.

“For the first time in a long time he played back-to-back from midweek to the weekend,” said Rosenior. “That’s a really positive sign. The aim with every player is to build them to a point where they can play every game. We’re not quite there yet.”

There will be more changes in the back four when Chelsea visit Rosenior’s former club Hull in the FA Cup fourth round on Friday.

Marc Cucurella will miss out with injury meaning a likely start for teenager Jorrel Hato.

The tie brings a return to Hull for the Blues boss for the first time since he was sacked in May 2024 having led the club to seventh in the Championship.

Tigers owner Acun Ilicali explained the decision as being to do with the team not playing the kind of attacking football under Rosenior that he favoured.

It was the 41-year-old’s first permanent appointment in senior management, after which he went on to manage Strasbourg for 18 months before being appointed at Stamford Bridge in January.

“Without Hull, without the experience of being there as a player and as a manager, I wouldn’t be sat here,” said Rosenior. “I’ve got a lot to thank the club for. I had some amazing times there, both as a player and as a coach.

“It’s a great club, great people, great fans, a great city. It’s going to be an emotional one for me to go back.

“This is going to be a difficult game and I want to do well in this competition. I don’t see it any different to a Premier League or Champions League games. We’ll go with a team that I think will be good enough to win the game.”