Maresca Expresses Concerns Over Player Recovery After Long Kazakhstan Journey

Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca has stated that it is “not normal” for a player to undertake the 16-hour round trip to Kazakhstan for Thursday’s Conference League fixture and subsequently compete in Sunday night’s match against Brentford. Maresca’s Chelsea team has already secured a place in at least the play-off stages of the league phase. The Blues are scheduled for an eight-hour flight covering 3,700 miles (6,000km) to Almaty, located in the south of the country. They will play Astana there due to stadium renovations in the Kazakhstan capital, which is 600 miles away. Chelsea is expected to return to London on Friday morning, after which they will prepare to face Brentford in the Premier League at 19:00 GMT on Sunday. The Blues currently sit in second place, four points adrift of Liverpool. Maresca, whose side leads the Conference League table with a perfect record of four wins from four games, commented: “Eight hours [one way] is not a normal time [to travel] for a game, but we have to go there, we have to play and we want to try to do our best, thinking also about the next game.” Chelsea’s flight duration is extended because the aircraft must follow a non-direct route to avoid conflict zones in Ukraine, Russia, and Syria. Temperatures are also predicted to fall as low as -11C. The Premier League side will maintain Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) during their 18-hour stay in the central Asian country, which operates five hours ahead of GMT. The Italian coach confirmed that several first-team players, including England winger Noni Madueke, will be rested for the trip. Portugal winger Pedro Neto is suspended for Sunday’s match against Brentford. Youth players Ato Ampah, Shumaira Mheuka, Harrison McMahon, Kaiden Wilson, Richard Olise (brother of Bayern Munich winger Michael), and Harrison Murray-Campbell are part of the traveling squad. Young defender Josh Acheampong, an 18-year-old academy graduate who is close to signing a new contract, will “probably start” on Thursday. Star forward Cole Palmer, injured duo Romeo Lavia and Wesley Fofana, and the exiled Ben Chilwell have not been registered for Uefa’s third-tier competition. The 44-year-old Italian Maresca added: “The ones that are not involved tomorrow, first of all, they’re going to be training, and they have to train well.” He continued: “You never know whether we might need one of the guys who play tomorrow on Sunday. Ideally we prefer not. We are going to land at 6am on Friday and it’s not normal for one of them, if they land at 6am on Friday, to play again on Sunday.” Maresca concluded: “But if we need [them to], they are going to make the effort.” When questioned about the cold conditions, confirmed starter Axel Disasi responded: “We just have to put on two pairs of gloves and be ready to compete in these conditions.” Disasi further stated: “We all know the conditions of these games, it’s eight hour flight and minus 11, so download some movies to watch on the plane, be ready to fight and keep first place.” The Premier League has approved a late kick-off time for Chelsea on Sunday, with the Brentford game scheduled for 19:00 GMT, in consideration of the extensive travel involved.