Chelsea hope James can stay fit after ´lonely´ injury nightmare

Chelsea coach Enzo Maresca set Reece James the target of staying fit for the rest of the season after he returned from his “lonely” spell on the sidelines with a dramatic equaliser against Bournemouth.

James has been plagued by hamstring injuries in recent years, being limited to just five Premier League appearances this season.

He returned from his latest lay-off of two months as Chelsea beat Morecambe 5-0 in the FA Cup last weekend, then replaced Romeo Lavia as a second-half substitute on Tuesday.

Chelsea were staring at a defeat when goals from Justin Kluivert and Antoine Semenyo put Bournemouth 2-1 up, only for James to score with a wonderful free-kick in the 95th minute.

After scoring his first Premier League goal since August 2022, when he netted in a 2-2 draw with Tottenham, James told BBC Radio 5 Live it was a relief to be back.

“I haven’t had that feeling for quite a long time,” James said. “It was lonely and frustrating. I am really happy to be back helping the team.”

Since making his Premier League debut in 2019, James has never made more than 25 starts in a single top-flight campaign, only reaching that mark in 2020-21.

He has only played 31 games in the competition since the start of 2022-23, with 22 of those being starts.

Maresca has set him the target of staying fit following his return, also comparing his set-piece abilities to those of Chelsea’s leading goalscorer Cole Palmer.

“Reece can compare with Cole in terms of free-kicks because he is very good,” said Maresca.

“We decided for Reece [to take it] and he scored, and we are all happy because at least we took a point. He deserved it, those moments are difficult for every player.

“Now, the target for him is to be fit until the end, and he will help us in the way we want to play.”

Chelsea are next in action against Wolves in the Premier League next Monday before they visit reigning champions Manchester City on January 25.