Madueke absent through illness- Maresca

Chelsea manager confirmed winger Noni Madueke missed the 5-0 win over Morecambe through illness.

The Italian coach previously left the England international for a "technical decision" against Fulham in December.

But he explained there was no such controversy after the comfortable win on Saturday, "It was just because yesterday he didn't finish the session. He was unwell," he explained.

Reece James and Romeo Lavia both returned from hamstring injuries but only managed 45 minutes against the League Two minnows.

Maresca explained that the half-time change was pre-planned, adding: "The idea is to slow build the right condition.

"Especially for Reece, we have to be a bit more careful. The good thing is they both played 45 minutes and finished well without any problem. We can start to help them and bring the right condition."

"Hopefully now we can start to help them to build the right condition."

Chelsea last won the FA Cup in 2018 but have lost three finals between 2020 and 2022.

Maresca was asked about the importance of this competition - as he bids to win silverware in his first season at Stamford Bridge.

"It's an important competition but since we started, we are trying to treat all of the competitions the same way," he added.

"The Premier League, the Conference League, unfortunately in the Carabao Cup we lost against Newcastle, now the FA Cup. We try to do our best in all of the competitions."