Why Chelsea must sign a new full-back after latest Reece James injury setback

Nine points on the board, Chelsea bowl into Heidenheim, a German town of just 50,000, with five academy youngsters in their squad, 10 first-team regulars left at home and, for what it’s worth, not one specialist full-back.

And in truth, it probably won’t matter. At times during this Conference League group stage, the Blues have looked as if they could probably get by without a specialist footballer.

But while this competition has showcased the strength of Enzo Maresca’s squad, £200million reserve forward line and all, it has also occasionally pinpointed its weaknesses.

With Ben Chilwell kicking his heels until January offers another way out - the Englishman has played 45 minutes this season, against Barrow, and not made the bench outside the Carabao Cup - Maresca has just three senior full-backs at his realistic disposal.

Of those, Reece James is sidelined with yet another hamstring problem and in his pre-match press conference on Wednesday, Maresca was vague on when he might return.

“We cannot say because we do not know how long the recovery time is,” Maresca said. “He is getting better and better day by day. We are there waiting for him - no rush.”

That leaves just Marc Cucurella and Malo Gusto, who have been left in London, feet up ahead of Sunday’s Premier League meeting with Aston Villa, for which the latter is set to be fit after missing last weekend’s win at Leicester through illness.

That afternoon at the King Power, though, highlighted the fragility of Maresca’s current set-up, with Gusto’s overnight lurgy forcing Wesley Fofana into action as a makeshift right-back and, presumably, the manager into a change of his plans.

There was none of the usual inversion into midfield, no Gusto-esque runs into the right pocket to pop up as an overloading No10. Instead, Cucurella played as a conventional, overlapping defender on the left and Fofana largely left the attacking to Noni Madueke on the right.

Nothing wrong with any of that, except we know by now that that is not how Marecsa wants to play. The Italian has worked hard to forge an identity out of a Chelsea muddle so early in his tenure and his full-backs are central to his plan.

Not every club in the Premier League is blessed with two players competing in every position but, for the most part, this Chelsea are.

That what is clearly such a vital role to Maresca’s philosophy stands as an exception must surely be corrected when the transfer window opens at the start of the New Year.

Because, for sure, Chelsea have options. Axel Disasi has deputised at right-back this season (without success, it must be said) and the versatile Renato Veiga can play just about anywhere.

Youngster Josh Acheampong could be brought back into consideration, though for now his contract stand-off goes on and so too does his effective exile, despite joining first-team training in recent days.

But these are, ideally, only occasional (or Conference League) solutions; with James so unreliable in terms of availability, Chelsea run the risk that a Gusto or Cucurella injury could suddenly make one of them first-choice.

James’s hamstring problems have now reached the point where squad planning must almost assume a worst-case scenario. Chelsea have played 20 matches this season. Their captain has been involved in four.

Even when fit, Maresca has already made clear that the 24-year-old’s body cannot take more than one match a week at this stage and if Chelsea’s season goes as they hope they will have twice that from now on, almost all the way through to the Club World Cup in June and July. Should they fail to strengthen for that run when given the chance, then lose James again, they could not say they were not warned.

Cover, at the very least, is needed. A loan signing, even, that would buy Chelsea time to make a more definite commitment either way in the summer.

For James himself, it would offer another six months to prove he can stay fit after all.