Noni Madueke in contention for Chelsea return after being dropped against Fulham

The England winger was not even on the bench as the Blues suffered a rare home defeat in the west London derby.

Noni Madueke in action for Chelsea — Noni Madueke could return to the Chelsea team against Ipswich (John Walton/PA)

Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca insists Noni Madueke is in contention to face Ipswich despite axing the England winger for the Boxing Day derby against Fulham.

Madueke was a surprise absentee from the Blues squad for Thursday’s 2-1 defeat by their west London neighbours.

It was not the first time Maresca has dropped the 22-year-old. He was also left out against Aston Villa at the start of the month after failing to impress the Italian boss in training.

Maresca pointedly named two goalkeepers on his bench instead of Madueke, and afterwards explained it was a “technical decision”.

He added: “Sometimes we just take a decision and it’s no more than that. Is he in contention for Ipswich? Yeah, for sure.

“The competition has to be higher, but not only for Noni Madueke. Also Renato Veiga was not in the squad and the reason is exactly the same for both of them.

“There is not any different reason, it’s just a technical decision.”

Noni Madueke celebrates scoring by pointing to the sky — Noni Madueke responded with a goal at Southampton after the last time he was dropped (Andrew Matthews/PA)

After being dropped against Villa, Madueke returned to the starting line-up three days later at Southampton and scored in a 5-1 win.

“Very good, fantastic and he responded very good at that time so there is no more than that,” added Maresca.

“I expect the same this time, yeah, absolutely.”

Maresca is set to make further changes at Portman Road on Monday after Chelsea slipped to their first defeat since October against the Cottagers.

Chelsea’s Marc Cucurella stands dejected — Fulham recorded a rare win at Stamford Bridge (Zac Goodwin/PA)

Cole Palmer’s 12th goal of the season put the Blues ahead but late strikes from Harry Wilson and Rodrigo Muniz gave Fulham their first win at Stamford Bridge since 1979.

“For sure, after a game you need to go again, no matter the result, especially in this month,” said Maresca.

“I think in December, we already played eight or nine games in 25 or 27 days so it’s now important to recover the energy and go again on Monday. If we are going to make one, two or three changes we will see.”