Chelsea have once again left a host of first-team stars in London as they travel to Germany to face Heidenheim in the Conference League.
Enzo Maresca has tended to use the competition to give playing time to those on the fringes of his Premier League XI and with three wins from three, the Blues are already well on their way to qualifying for the knockout phase.
Cole Palmer, Wesley Fofana and Romeo Lavia will all be absent as usual, having been left out of Chelsea’s squad at the start of the group stage in order to manage their workloads.
In addition, Malo Gusto, Nicolas Jackson, Pedro Neto, Moises Caicedo, Marc Cucurella, Enzo Fernandez and Reece James have all been left out of a 21-man travelling squad.
Neto, Gusto and James all missed Saturday’s victory over Leicester and Maresca gave an update on the trio’s fitness at his pre-match press conference in Germany on Wednesday night.
Asked if Gusto and Neto could return to face Aston Villa this weekend, Maresca said: "I think so. Both have trained with us. We don't take a risk for tomorrow but both I think can be available for Sunday's game."
On James, the Chelsea boss added: “The only thing we can say is that he is getting better day by day.
“We don't know how many days he needs. He's getting better."
Predicted Chelsea XI: Jorgensen; Disasi, Tosin, Badiashile, Veiga; Casadei, Dewsbury-Hall; Sancho, Felix, Mudryk; Nkunku
Injured: James, Neto, Gusto
Venue: Voith-Arena
TV channel and live stream: TNT Sports