Maresca’s weekly update on Reece James and Wesley Fofana – plus one other player who misses Spurs game

Another week, another press conference for Enzo Maresca.

The feeling in these is very positive now, as you’d expect with the Italian’s team flying high in the league. The only minor black spot is the injuries, but in the case of both Reece James and Wesley Fofana, the two players out, the update is good:

“Both are slowly getting better,” Maresca said.

“It is a matter of weeks. The only one that is still ill is Misha and the rest are okay.”

We haven’t really had a detailed update on either of them from the coach. From the start he said they were hamstring issues, but we’ve not had much of an indication of how severe they are beyond the rough estimates of how many weeks it might take for them to return.

“Weeks” could be very positive if it meant 2 weeks. However we’ve got a feeling it means more like 8 or 10 when all is said and done.. That’s not as good, especially when you describe it as “months” rather than “weeks.”

Still, the team has proved it can cope without them. Malo Gusto is fit to replace Reece James on the right, and Moises Caicedo has filled in there too. Meanwhile Benoit Badiashile has recovered some form just in time to replace Fofana in the middle.

Enzo Maresca hints at Caicedo return to right back

Maresca had some interesting thoughts on Caicedo as a right back:

“It is something that was in our minds since day one but because of the Romeo injury and the Enzo moment, we used Moi as a holding midfielder,” the manager said.

“We used him right-back last game and in the future we can expect to see him there. For sure, it could be an option.”

We don’t expect it this weekend, but we do expect to see it again soon.