Trevoh Chalobah netted the opener in Chelsea’s thrilling Premier League draw against Arsenal at Stamford Bridge on Sunday
Trevoh Chalobah has paid tribute to Chelsea’s “unbelievable” captain Reece James for his instrumental all-action display in Sunday’s draw against Arsenal.
The England right-back covered every blade of grass in the middle of the park for the Blues and also served up an assist for Chalobah as 10-man Chelsea took the lead at Stamford Bridge.
Goalscorer Chalobah was in awe of James’ performance and paid tribute to his delivery, stating: “It’s all about the execution and timing, and we got that. It was a good delivery from Reece, we know how technically good he is, and it worked for us on Sunday.
“He was unbelievable all game. That’s why he’s our captain. Every single day he works and he leads by example. That was a captain’s performance and that’s what we’re going to need from everyone going forward.”
Remarkably, Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca claimed after the match that James won’t be available to face Leeds on Wednesday night.
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Because of James’ hamstring injury history, the Italian has managed his skipper’s minutes all season. When asked if he’ll be ready to go again at Elland Road in midweek, Maresca revealed: “No. No, the reality is no [he won’t be able to play].
“When you are with 10 players against Arsenal, for sure if you want to take a point or win the game, you need some special performance, like Robert [Sanchez], like Reece, as you said. So we are very happy with Robert’s performance.
“Reece, now, his performance has been fantastic, top. Now, we have a game on Wednesday. For him, very good. We need to manage him, we need to control him, we need to control a little bit his situation. But he was very good tonight.”
James recently played just 45 minutes of the 2-0 win at Burnley while he was also benched for the 3-0 home victory over Wolves.
He made two starts last week though having also played 82 minutes in the 3-0 Champions League demolition of Barcelona. Maresca is cautious that James cannot start every game due to the fear that he could pick up an injury.
Chelsea have now dropped to third in the Premier League table following Manchester City’s dramatic 3-2 triumph over Leeds.
The Blues will be well aware that Daniel Farke’s side showed huge fighting spirit in the second half against City after battling back from 2-0 down to level the game.
