Chelsea dealt new injury worry as Enzo Maresca crisis continues and transfer plan impact revealed

Enzo Maresca refused to give a timeline for Tosin Adarabioyo's return to the team after yet another defensive injury left Chelsea to experiment against Crystal Palace on Sunday. Tosin had been expected to start the game in Levi Colwill's enforced absence.

However, it emerged prior to the match that no risks would be taken with the 27-year-old as he was left out entirely. Instead, Maresca turned to teenage centre-back Josh Acheampong at the heart of his defence.

Acheampong was one of three Cobham graduates in the back four, playing alongside Trevoh Chalobah in the middle and captained by Reece James on the right. Having made his full Premier League debut against the same opposition eight months earlier, Acheampong slotted into the team.

He had a breakthrough season under Maresca last term but found himself peripheral towards the end. Now, as the head coach seeks to find "internal solutions" to the centre-back issues, Acheampong has been given a chance to impress.

In friendlies against Bayer Leverkusen and Milan last weekend, Acheampong started in the middle of the three first up when Chelsea had the ball and then came on in the same position for the second game from the bench. In possession here, he took up the position left by Colwill and Tosin as the centre of the centre-backs again.

That was a role that both Colwill and Tosin play with calmness and certainty, punching passes through the lines to help Chelsea progress. It it for this reason that Maresca was so vocal about bringing in somebody new to fill the void.

"We are trying to find a solution internally but the club know exactly what I think," he said on Friday morning. "I think we need a central defender. We are looking for an internal solution but as I said, the club know exactly what I think."

On paper, Chelsea have eight players capable of operating in the various centre-back spots. The problem for Maresca is that only two of them fit the bill of being available and having made a Premier League appearance.

Benoit Badiashile is out through injury (due to return in September). Wesley Fofana was in the matchday squad on Sunday for the first time since March but was never in the plans to play.

Neither Aaron Anselmino or Jorrel Hato have played a Premier League game yet, and Colwill is out for what is expected to be most of the rest of the season. That left Chalobah and Acheampong to pick up the pieces.

Against awkward and physical opponents, they limited Jean-Phillipe Mateta to very few openings but were unable to provide too much in terms of getting Cole Palmer, Enzo Fernandez, oo Joao Pedro the ball themselves. Chelsea will now hope to have Tosin and his added in-possession value back as soon as possible.

It is telling that this was the first competitive game (out of 65, so far) that neither Tosin or Colwill had started for Chelsea. Should his injury be much more serious than first thought then it could add pressure to the recruitment team in the final weeks of the transfer market. Chelsea had been pursuing the attacking duo of Alejandro Garnacho and Xavi Simons but would surely need to pivot if Maresca's public position is strengthened by further worries.

"He [Tosin] had a physical problem, we don't know for how long," the Italian explained after the Palace game. "Wes [Fofana] was on the bench, but he was just on the bench to be with us. The plan was not to get any minutes. And now, hopefully for the next one, we can start to use Wes for more minutes."

When asked about Acheampong, Maresca said he was "Very good, very good." The Chelsea manager added: "We already showed confidence in Josh last year. He played already some games. Today he did very well, he dealt with Mateta very well. So overall, he did a good game."

The makeup and responsibilities of the back three are deemed more subtle than that, though, with Maresca taking aim at Fofana and Badiashile in particular before the game. "But the one in the middle in my way [of playing] is so, so, so important," he said when the sheer number of options at his disposal was put to him.

"He [Fofana] can do, he can do. He needs to be fit, first of all, and then he can do it." Maresca continued: "Wes played 45 minutes in that position. It was the first half against Bournemouth away. Probably one of the worst halves since we started.

"Benoit playing in the middle, the Conference League final, first half, we were losing 1-0. We changed with Levi and won 4-1. It's not the same. The one in the middle, in my way, is so, so, so important."

Maresca had been bullish on this ahead of the clash. "It's not on the left side," he reiterated. "When we build, we build with Levi in the middle. It's different to the player in the middle on the left side.

"Last year we played 64 games and we played 64 games with Levi and Tosin. Now Levi is out. The only one that he can do that job well is Tosin. But we have Premier League, Champions League.

"These kind of players, the rest, they can adapt. Hato is a new one, he never played as the guy in the middle last season. So it's not about being a central defender. Yes, [he is a] central defender. Can he do that? It's different, it's not just about that.

"And also we have players that unfortunately, like Wes or Benoit, they have in this moment some problems. And this is the reason why I said that the club knows exactly what I think about central defenders."

All eyes will now be on Tosin. 'Uncle', as he is known in the squad, was on the bench to watch the game and stood up at points during the 90 minutes to cheer on his teammates or show expressions of disappointment when chances were missed.

His fitness promises to dictate where Chelsea look to in the remaining fortnight of the summer. It could have a knock-on for Acheampong as well as the long-term futures of Badiashile and Fofana.