Liam Delap is facing another spell on the sidelines but Chelsea can be hopeful of having their striker available again early in the New Year.
The former Ipswich Town star started against Bournemouth last Saturday, fighting tooth and nail with Cherries defender Marcos Senesi until injury struck.
After one feisty exchange between the two, Senesi landed awkwardly on Delap leaving the striker in real pain. The 22-year-old was left clutching his right shoulder as he left the pitch after 31 minutes, replaced by Marc Guiu.
It is the second time Delap has been sidelined since his switch from Ipswich Town. The striker missed 10 games with a hamstring injury earlier in the campaign, starting four of Chelsea’s five Premier League matches since his return having also served a suspension.
His absence leaves Chelsea short up top with Joao Pedro, without a goal in his last five games, and Guiu now Maresca’s alternative options.
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Delap will miss a crucial run of games over the festive period but Stephen Smith, CEO and founder of Kitman Labs which specialises in injury welfare, suggests an injury such as his should not be regarded as a long-term blow.
‘It is difficult to determine the severity without being to assess it. But we can hypnotise it is an AC (acromioclavicular) injury based on how it happened,’ Smith told Metro.
‘He landed down heavily, his arm was down underneath him and he was compressed as the other player came down on him. So it is most likely an AC sprain. It doesn’t appear to be anything broken.
‘Typically if it’s a mild sprain it is a week to two weeks. If it is a grade 2 it can be three to six weeks and if it is worse than that, a grade three, you can be looking at six to 12 weeks. Most recent research on UEFA athletes showed the average time loss to be a month on average.’
Delap is one of the most robust strikers in the English top flight, offering the physicality up front that is sometimes lacking when Joao Pedro leads the line for Chelsea.
While his absence will be a blow, Chelsea will have no concerns of Delap having to curb some of that fight when he returns to action.
‘Of all the types of injuries that can happen, this is probably on the spectrum of the things teams are least concerned about when a player returns, compared to if it was a knee, an ankle, hamstring, a calf or anything else,’ Smith said. ‘They will be looking after it, but it won’t be a big concern.
‘They will still be doing a lot of treatment on it, it is still a ligament issue. So if it gets overstretched or he gets another belt on it while he is going through the rehab process it could set it back.
‘So they will be doing a lot of con-contact work with him, but he’ll still be able to do a tonne of ball work with him and fitness work so it is something they should be able to manage.’
