Confirmed: Three Chelsea players won’t be available to face Newcastle on Wednesday Night

Reece James was one of Chelsea’s star players as they secured a crucial win against Newcastle United in the Premier League on Sunday afternoon.

The Blues captain was rested at Panathinaikos after returning from a lengthy spell at Liverpool last week. However, James was immediately sent off when Chelsea hosted Newcastle at Stamford Bridge a few days later.

The 24-year-old played 90 minutes for the first time since April 2023 on Sunday afternoon and impressed with a crucial second-half block to help the hosts beat the Magpies in SW6.

James, who graduated from Chelsea’s academy, has had a miserable last two seasons due to injuries.

In the 2022/23 season, James missed a total of 16 games in all competitions due to injury. The following season, James suffered a thigh injury in the opening weekend draw with Liverpool and missed a total of nine games before returning.

Then came the calamity at Goodison Park in December when another hamstring injury kept James off the pitch. The Blues captain has decided to undergo hip surgery and will be sidelined until May the following year (2023) where he made an impressive 11 minute cameo against Nottingham Forest.

A few days later, Chelsea traveled to the south coast and the Amex Stadium to face Brighton. James was substituted in the second half and Mauricio Pochettino continued to assist at right-back, but he received his second red card of the 2023/24 season, meaning he will serve a four-match ban for the next season.

James traveled to the United States in the summer with the rest of the squad, while Enzo Maresca began working with the players he brought in from Pochettino.

However, James did not feature in the squad after the opening day defeat against Manchester City. His suspension was supposed to end after the third game of the Premier League season against Crystal Palace, but then he injured his thigh again.

James bounced back against Liverpool at Anfield earlier this month, playing around 53 minutes before being substituted – something Maresca was always up for. This led to James being playing for 90 minutes of Sunday’s game against Newcastle. This was a big, big step towards full fitness for James.

Getting James back to full fitness is of utmost importance to Maresca and her staff. But how will they do it? Managers came to Chelsea and tried to do it but ultimately failed.

On October 18, the Chelsea manager explained his thoughts on this and what would happen to Romeo Rabia and Wesley Fofana.

“It is complicated when you get injury, injury, injury again. It is not easy so you are always looking for a solution.

“Probably the solution with Reece is the same solution we are using with Romeo and Wes in terms of using them just once a week, in one game, because probably in this moment, for different reasons, Reece’s body cannot play twice a week. One of the solutions is probably to try and manage him in the same way we are doing with Wes and Romeo.”

James, Lavia and Fofana all started against Newcastle last weekend so are thought to be unavailable when the Blues travel to Tyneside to face the Magpies in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday night.