Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca has acknowledged that a wide array of young players will feature in the squad for Thursday's Conference League fixture at Astana.
Earlier this week, more prospects from the academy were added to the club's squad for this competition ahead of the 7,000-mile-round trip to Kazakhstan.
Not only do Chelsea have to contend with an eight-hour flight there and back, they will encounter temperatures in the region of -10C when they take to the pitch at the Almaty Ortalyk Stadion.
Furthermore, Chelsea are back in Premier League as soon as Sunday evening when they square off versus Brentford in what is viewed as a high-profile West London derby given the form of both clubs.
Addressing the media at a press conference at Cobham before the long-haul flight, Maresca confirmed suggestions that a young squad would be selected for the game.
Chelsea's Noni Madueke celebrates scoring against Southampton on December 4, 2024© Imago
'We are thinking about the next game'
Maresca acknowledged that Noni Madueke would be absent from the squad courtesy of Pedro Neto serving a one-game suspension for the aforementioned game with Brentford.
Preceding that revelation, he suggested that he had decided to take a small squad of just 17 players that will be confirmed after training.
Speaking to reporters, as quoted by football.london, Maresca said: "Some of them are going to be here and some of them will fly with us.
"More or less, we will try and manage in the same way we have done. We have many young players, 17 with us, and the rest will be here working."
He added: "Eight hours is not a normal time for a game. But we have to go there and have to play, do our best and thinking also about the next game."
Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca on October 20 2024© Imago
What are Chelsea's plans for the next 48 hours?
Maresca was later quizzed on how Chelsea would handle the five-hour time difference, the 44-year-old going on to reveal Chelsea's itinerary for the upcoming two days.
He said: "We have a session now (Wednesday morning), then we fly there, eight hours. We arrive, have dinner, bed. Fortunately they are five hours ahead of us.
"We are going to be there for 24 hours. Friday morning, we are going to arrive around 6am in London."
Chelsea head into the contest having already won four successive games in the League Phase of this competition, seeing them sit at the top of the Conference League table with two fixtures remaining.
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