Chelsea dealt injury blow with Wesley Fofana suffering hamstring problem

Chelsea have been hit all winter with the prospect of losing Wesley Fofana after the 23-year-old Frenchman picked up a problem during their 3-0 win over Aston Villa.

Head coach Enzo Maresca confirmed after the Premier League win that Fofana will be on the sidelines for up to five weeks after missing the entirety of last season due to another problem.

Goals from Nicolas Jackson, Enzo Fernandez and Cole Palmer saw Chelsea win and draw level with Arsenal, but Maresca told us afterwards on Fofana: 'Unfortunately it's bad news.

'It's a hamstring problem. This kind of thing takes at least three, four, five weeks. Right now you're losing 10 games or 12 games. Considering the way he played, it's a big loss for us. But we have more players and we will try to find solutions.

'It's a big loss. He's doing fantastic. But it's normal when you play so many games and luckily it's his first injury this season. But we will find solutions.'

Benoit Badiashile replaces Fofana, who teams up with Levi Colwill this season. Chelsea managed to keep a clean sheet against Villa, the first in eight games.

Maresca was asked if this was classified as a win and he said: 'It was a very good match for many reasons. One is that we played against a fantastic team and I consider Emery to be a top manager. He has won trophies everywhere and is doing something fantastic at Villa. But we also prepared well for the match and deserved the win.'