Maresca says Chelsea on 'right track' as he juggles mega squad

The 44-year-old Italian, in his first season at Stamford Bridge, has won his past four games in all competitions, with Chelsea climbing to fourth in the Premier League table.

But the club's large roster means big-name players including Christopher Nkunku, Joao Felix, Pedro Neto and Mykhailo Mudryk are short of match time.

"We try to share minutes with all of them," Maresca said on Wednesday.

"In this moment, probably, it looks like we have players that are playing in the Premier League and players playing in the cups, Conference, Carabao (League Cup) or FA Cup.

"It's not like this, in general it won't be like this. We try to give them the opportunity."

Maresca was asked what Ukraine forward Mudryk, signed last year in a deal worth up to £89 million, could do to get more minutes.

"They all want to play from the start but sometimes it is not possible," he said. "You have to take some decisions. Last week against Barrow (in the League Cup) he did very well."

He added: "We can say exactly the same for Christopher Nkunku. The club signed him as a big player and in this moment he is not playing in the Premier League. But in football things change quickly."

Cole Palmer, midfielder Romeo Lavia and defender Wesley Fofana have been left out of Chelsea's squad for Europe's third-tier club competition to manage their workloads.

Palmer is one of the Premier League's standout players this season, scoring all four goals in Chelsea's 4-2 win against Brighton at the weekend but Maresca is not worried about his absence.

"It's not about being reliant," he said. "We already played some games without Cole.

"For sure, for us and any team in the world, Cole is an extra, it's something that you need but also we need to think a little bit that we need to protect some players."

Maresca said Chelsea, who have been through a turbulent spell over the past couple of years under new owners, are on the right track.

"We are ahead of my expectations," he said. "We are doing well, we are going in the right direction but we have many, many things we need to improve, attack better, defend better. But we are happy, the feeling is good."

Maresca said he was "excited" to lead his side in the Conference League group phase, just three years after Chelsea won the Champions League for the second time, under then manager Thomas Tuchel.

"It's an official competition, so we are excited, we want to try to do our best. Also, it's a European competition and we need to be ready for that."