Maresca insists he's "very happy" with Chelsea star despite just 43 minutes of Premier League action
Today at 02:30 AM
Enzo Maresca has claimed Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall probably struggled at the beginning to accept he wasn't the most important player following his summer move to Chelsea.
The Blues paid Leicester £30m for Dewsbury-Hall who shone under Maresca last season as the Foxes won the Championship title, and he scored 12 goals and provided 14 assists.
As expected things have been very different at Chelsea and it's been a huge step up for the 26-year-old, who hasn't featured on a regular basis in the league and he's already been linked with a move to Aston Villa.
Maresca insists he's very happy with Dewsbury-Hall
Given the fierce competition for places in the middle of the park at Stamford Bridge with the likes of Romeo Lavia, Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez it's understandable why minutes have been hard to come by.
Dewsbury-Hall has only made three league appearances totalling just 43 minutes and hasn't featured in the competition since he came on as a late substitute in the win at West Ham in September.
The midfielder has only made the match day squad in one of the last six league games, but will be hoping that changes for Saturday's trip to his former club Leicester.
Dewsbury-Hall has featured more regularly in the cup competitions and scored his first goal for the Blues in the Conference League win against Gent, but despite his lack of minutes Maresca insisted he's very happy with the Englishman.
"Kiernan was, at Leicester, the most important player," he told Mail Sport.
"He moved to Chelsea to be one other player. You have to accept that.
"Probably at the beginning, you struggle to accept that. Now it's getting better. Me as a manager, I am very happy with Kiernan, no doubt. But for sure for him, he has to continue to work, wait for the chance and take it, in the way he is doing in the Conference League. He is doing OK."
Dewsbury-Hall can expect more opportunities in the league with the fixtures coming thick and fast in the build-up to Christmas and it will down to him to make the most of them and show he deserves to feature more regularly.
