Chelsea head coach Mauricio Pochettino has hinted that Romeo Lavia and Christopher Nkunku will each remain unavailable for Sunday's Premier League fixture against Brighton & Hove Albion.
On the back of delivering what Pochettino felt was their worst performance of the season at Newcastle United last weekend, the Blues face a number of important games in quick succession.
First up is Brighton on Sunday afternoon before a trip to Old Trafford to face Manchester United three days later, before concluding next week is another game in the North-West against Everton.
While Pochettino has as many players at his disposal as he has all season, there are still some notable absentees, including Lavia and Nkunku.
Neither of the summer arrivals are yet to play a competitive game for Chelsea since their respective transfers from Southampton and RB Leipzig respectively.
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Lavia has not been available since suffering ankle ligament damage during the September international break, while Nkunku sustained a knee injury during the final game of pre-season.
The pair are known to have made good progress in their attempts to be available for their debuts, with both players having featured in an open training session with the rest of the squad.
Nevertheless, speaking to reporters at a press conference, Pochettino has indicated that he may avoid the temptation to use either player this weekend.
The Argentine said: "Not too much news. We don't believe that we can recall some players that I previously thought was possible, but still one more training and see what is going on tomorrow and we can see if we can.
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He added: "We need to assess tomorrow and then decide. They are close, but we need tomorrow to take the decision.
"Maybe Lavia is the more difficult but we need to assess Nkunku tomorrow."
Earlier on Friday, Malo Gusto was also included on the list of players who continue to recover from injury, the right-back having suffering a knee issue against Manchester City before the November international break.
Wesley Fofana, Trevoh Chalobah, Ben Chilwell and Carney Chukwuemeka also remain out of contention.
Darren Plant
