Liam Rosenior has provided an update on Chelsea’s injury situation after their 2-0 win over Brentford on Saturday, explaining why Tosin Adarabioyo was withdrawn during the match and why Estevao Willian was absent from the matchday squad.
The former Strasbourg guided the Blues to an impressive victory in his first Premier League game in charge since replacing Enzo Maresca at the dugout earlier this month.
Brazil forward Estevao, who joined the club from Palmeiras last summer, has been gradually eased into life in England and has already featured 17 times in the league this season. The 18-year-old played the full 90 minutes in the recent 3-2 defeat to Arsenal in their EFL Cup semifinal clash and it was a surprise when his name was not included in the squad for Saturday’s West London derby.
Providing the latest Chelsea injury news update after the game as quoted by football.london, Rosenior confirmed that the winger missed the game after he was affected by a virus that had struck the Chelsea camp.
“Yeah, he was ill. It’s running through the squad. There were a few, I won’t say who, but there were a couple of players playing today who were complaining about their chests”, Rosenior revealed.
Chelsea secured just their second win over Brentford in nine meetings as the 41-year-old made a winning league start. Joao Pedro fired in a thunderous opener after a clearance from Michael Kayode deflected off Enzo Fernandez into his path.
Caoimhin Kelleher then brought down Liam Delap inside the area after a failed attempt to play out from the back in the second half, allowing Cole Palmer to add a second from the penalty spot to complete the win.
However, the Blues suffered another setback during the match when Tosin came off in the second half after struggling with an injury.
“He said he felt something in his hamstring. I don’t know if it’s serious. He said it felt better afterwards. But at the moment, I’ve got a really, really good bench that I trust and Wes [Fofana] is an outstanding player and I brought him on to help the team.”
Chelsea moved up to sixth on the Premier League standings with 34 points and now shift their focus to Wednesday’s UEFA Champions League clash against Pafos.
