Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca has confessed he had a difficult decision to make with Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall in the club’s last game as the summer signing didn’t even make the matchday squad against Brighton.
The Blues enjoyed a 4-2 win over the Seagulls thanks to the superb form of Cole Palmer, who scored all four goals for Maresca’s side, all of which came in the first half.
Dewsbury-Hall, meanwhile, has not had the easiest start to life at Chelsea so far, despite looking a promising addition when he followed Maresca to Chelsea from Leicester City in the summer.
The 26-year-old could still have a role to play for Chelsea, but for the moment it seems he’s not quite done enough to even necessarily guarantee himself a place on the bench, which Maresca admits he finds a part of his job that he does not like.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall was not injured for Chelsea against Brighton, says Enzo Maresca
Discussing Dewsbury-Hall’s absence, Maresca confirmed that the player was not injured, but that he regretted that he just didn’t find space for him in the squad.
“For Kiernan, and all the players that were out of the squad, there was not a physical problem,” he said, as quoted on Chelsea’s official site.
“It happened with Kiernan last week and will happen with different players.
“I am very happy with Kiernan and it was just a decision I made. It is the bad part of my job, it’s not the one I prefer but it’s part of my role.”
Dewsbury-Hall will no doubt hope he can get a chance at Chelsea at some point this season, and it may be that the upcoming Europa Conference League game against Gent could be ideal for him to try to make his mark.
Maresca will surely have to rotate his team from time to time, and he’ll surely trust Dewsbury-Hall after he served him so well at Leicester last season.