Enzo Maresca has said Joao Pedro is not the kind of striker that will score 20 goals in a year because he is a different kind of forward.
Since his move to Chelsea in the summer Pedro has only managed two goals and has provided three assists in nine Premier League matches.
However, Pedro has not found the back of the net in his last seven games for the Blues.
Asked by the media about Pedro not scoring in his past seven games, ahead of Wednesday’s Carabao Cup fourth-round tie against Wolves at Molineux, Maresca said: “For sure, the physical part is important. When you are not 100%, it is difficult to compete. Joao is not a problem.
“He is going to score goals and give us assists. He is not going to score 20 goals a year. He’s a different profile.”
Maresca confirmed Liam Delap will be available to return from his hamstring injury on Wednesday.
“He took part of a complete session [on Monday] and he is available. For 90 minutes – no, he’s been out two months so he needs to be gradually back to 100%.”
Maresca added that he “needs to rotate” his starting XI.
“We need to protect the players because if we go with the same 11, we are going to struggle during the season. Probably we will make some changes.
“There are players that they need to be protected for many reasons, so we’ll see. Enzo [Fernandez], Moises [Caicedo], Joao [Pedro] – they are all players, for different reasons, we need to protect them.”
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On the importance of progression in the Carabao Cup: “It is three games from the final, so we need to have the desire to play for that. We need to go game by game. Hopefully winning the game, we can think about the next one. All the competitions are important for Chelsea.”
Also on Pedro Neto’s form before returning to his former side Wolves: “He’s top, very humble and working hard. He’s a very important player for us. We are very happy.”
Chelsea would hope to return to winning ways after suffering a shock 2-1 home defeat against newly promoted Sunderland at the weekend.
