The 12 Chelsea games Wesley Fofana could miss through injury after frank Enzo Maresca admission

Wesley Fofana limped off in Sunday afternoon's 3-0 victory over Aston Villa at Stamford Bridge.

The Chelsea defender stood on the ball and then went down injured. After the game, Blues head coach Enzo Maresca confirmed Fofana had hurt his hamstring and is now set for "three, four or five weeks" on the sidelines.

"Unfortunately it is bad news," Maresca said. "A hamstring problem. These kind of things usually require three four, five weeks. In this moment, we lose him for 10 or 12 games. In the way he was playing, it is a big loss for us but we have more players and we can find a solution.

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Maresca continued: "It's a big loss, it's a big loss. He is doing fantastic but it is normal when you play this amount of games. Fortunately it was his first injury of the season but we will find a solution.

Taking to his social media on Sunday evening, Fofana released a short statement, where he vowed to come back stronger from this latest setback. "A slight muscle warning, as often happens after long injuries, nothing serious, the body is adjusting," he wrote. "We'll come back stronger, as always. Trust your guy!"

If Maresca is right and Fofana does miss a total of 12 games, then the Frenchman will sit out of some crucial matches for Chelsea over the next few weeks. Southampton (A), Tottenham (A), Astana (A), Brentford (H), Shamrock Rovers (H), Everton (A), Fulham (H), Ipswich Town (A), Crystal Palace (A), Bournemouth (H), Wolves (H) and Manchester City (A) are Chelsea's next 12 matches in all competitions - meaning Fofana could be absent for all of that.

Fofana missed the entirety of the 2023/24 season after rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament in the summer prior to the campaign beginning. This time around, it is nowhere near as serious of a problem and Chelsea have plenty of options to replace the 23-year-old defender.

Benoit Badiashile can play as a right centre-back alongside Levi Colwill, as can the likes of Axel Disasi and Tosin Adarabioyo. Chelsea go to bottom-of-the-table Southampton on Wednesday night as they look to make it four straight victories in all competitions but will have to do so without Fofana on the pitch.