Enzo Maresca reveals crushing Chelsea injury blow after Brighton defeat

Enzo Maresca has admitted Chelsea are likely to be without winger Noni Madueke for "a while" after he limped off with a hamstring injury early in Friday's defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion.

A burst down the right wing 21 minutes in ended with Madueke holding his hamstring and it immediately became clear he could not continue, limping off the field six minutes before Brighton opened the scoring in their convincing 3-0 victory.

It was a miserable evening for Chelsea and Maresca admitted after the game that Madueke's injury had further soured the mood.

"Noni unfortunately has a hamstring problem and will be out for a while," the Chelsea boss confirmed.

There was, at least, some positive news about right-back Malo Gusto, who left the second half with a knock.

"Malo is okay," Maresca assured fans.

Madueke joins Nicolas Jackson and Marcu Guiu on the treatment table which, when added to Mykhailo Mudryk's suspension, leaves Chelsea incredibly limited when it comes to attacking options.

Jadon Sancho, Pedro Neto and 19-year-old Tyrique George are the only natural wingers available to Maresca, who is also operating without a natural striker. Christopher Nkunku dovetailed with Cole Palmer in a false nine experiment which failed to inspire a single shot on target against Brighton on Friday.

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