Reece James was substituted at half-time in Chelsea’s 1-0 win over Pafos to manage his minutes rather than because of injury.
There was concern among some Chelsea supporters on Wednesday night when they saw James, the Chelsea captain, was being replaced at half-time against Pafos with Estevao brought on.
James has suffered from serious injuries in his career but Chelsea have been praised this season for their handling of the England international, who has so far steered clear of injury this term.
Chelsea head coach Liam Rosenior was asked why he brought James off against Pafos.
“Yeah, [managing] minutes,” he said. “And making sure that he's prepared for we're playing Wednesday, Saturday, Wednesday, Saturday.
“I want to make sure Reece is available as much as possible because he's an outstanding player and he's a leader in our group.”
The other substitution at half-time saw goalkeeper Filip Jorgensen replaced by Robert Sanchez. Jorgensen had signalled to the bench a number of times in the first half that he had an issue.
“Yeah, unfortunately he picked something up,” Rosenior said of Jorgensen.
“Devastating for him because he's really impressed me in his time. Not just the game at Charlton, but how he's trained.
“Rob Sanchez came on, made a fantastic punch with one of the few balls they put into our box. And hopefully Filip can get better really, really quick.”
