Enzo Maresca reveals fresh Chelsea injury worry as Brighton reality emerges

Enzo Maresca has revealed Marc Guiu missed Chelsea's Carabao Cup third round win over Lincoln City after he "felt something" in training.

The Blues recalled the 19-year-old striker from his loan at Sunderland after just 26 days spent at the Stadium of Light. The west Londoners took the decision to bring Guiu back to Stamford Bridge after Liam Delap limped off with a hamstring injury in the win against Fulham, which will keep him out of action for several weeks.

Guiu was also brought back after Bayern Munich agreed a deal with Chelsea to sign Nicolas Jackson for a loan fee of £14.2million and an obligation to buy the striker for £56.2million. Guiu made three appearances for Southampton before being recalled and has since been named on the bench twice for Chelsea, although he is yet to get any minutes.

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The teenager had been in contention to feature for the Blues against Lincoln City on Tuesday evening but Marescarevealed after the match that he was not included in the squad due to a minor injury. Maresca told the BBC: "The reason why is because yesterday in the game preparation he felt something, nothing important. But with Liam Delap already out, we did not want to take a risk. So we gave Ty [George] and Jamie [Gittens] a chance."

Tyrique George was used in the striker position against Lincoln as Joao Pedro was given the night off. There are plans to use Guiu when he is required, which may be the case with Delap not expected to return until potentially November.

"Marc is back," Maresca said earlier this month. "The reason why he's back is because the intention is to use him. But he needs to do things better, he needs to improve things. And for sure, we're going to use him."

Lincoln, third in Sky Bet League One, deservedly took a 42nd-minute lead at the LNER Stadium against the Club World Cup champions after Enzo Fernandez’s careless pass allowed Ryan Street to score. They struck twice in five minutes after the break through George and the 19-year-old then teed up Facundo Buonanotte, whose first Chelsea goal ultimately sealed a spot in the fourth round.

While Maresca felt a tactical tweak helped their second half comeback, when asked if he got stuck into his players at the interval, Chelsea’s head coach replied: “Absolutely, absolutely, absolutely.”

He added: “I know some of them didn’t play these kind of games. I asked them how many times they had played against League One teams because you need to play a different kind of game.

“It’s not the same game because the desire is double from them. We struggled a bit in the first half but we were much better in the second half and we won the game. If the next game is against a League One or League Two team away, for sure this experience will be good for the next one. This has been a good experience.”

It remains unclear at this stage if Guiu will be available for Saturday's Premier League clash against Brighton. Joao Pedro is expected to come back into the starting XI anyway, while George can act as cover on the bench if required.