Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca has admitted he may have to bench Chelsea captain Reece James in some games in pre-season.

Reece James has been ever-present in Chelsea’s pre-season games, and he’s working hard to regain full fitness after missing much of last season’s games due to injury.

Reece James is set to miss the first three domestic matches of the new season following a red card, and Enzo Maresca has revealed he’d prepare to play without the Chelsea captain.

He said: “Probably yes. We will see if it is tomorrow or one of the games ahead. Because he is suspended, we need to try without him.”

Chelsea are set to play a tough pre-season clash against Manchester City at the iconic Ohio Stadium, and Blues boss Enzo Maresca has revealed that his aim is to keep improving his players.

Maresca stressed: “The target is to continue to try our things, the things we started doing since day one. Try to continue to improve day by day.

“We are improving. For sure when you have this amount of games, the focus is on the game but in this moment, we are using the games like training sessions because in this moment, our target is focusing on what we can improve.”