Liam Delap was sent off just half an hour into his return from injury in Chelsea’s 4-3 win over Wolves in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday.
The summer signing had been sidelined for almost two months with a thigh problem, which he sustained in the Blues’ 2-0 win over Fulham in August.
Delap, signed from relegated Ipswich Town in the recent transfer window, made his much-anticipated comeback off the bench at Molineux, taking to the field just after the hour.
However, he was dismissed for two yellow cards in the Black Country, both for off-the-ball incidents.
The first was earned in an altercation with Wolves’ Yerson Mosquera on the edge of the hosts’ penalty area, before he elbowed Emmanuel Agbadou as he challenged for a bouncing ball in the dying embers of the game.
Maresca slammed the forward afterwards, calling the red card “stupid” as well as ruing his side’s “embarrassing” disciplinary record.
As a result, Delap finds himself on the sidelines once more, but this time, it is from his own doing.
He will only be suspended for one game, however, with suspensions for the Carabao Cup not simply just for that competition.
As such, the ban carries over into the Premier League, where Chelsea take on Tottenham this weekend, and Delap will not be involved in that game at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Carabao Cup and Premier League red cards are different to those in the FA Cup and Champions League, with sendings-off in the latter two competitions culminating in bans for games solely in those formats.
