Delap blow adds to Chelsea boss' selection woes

CHELSEA head coach Enzo Maresca could be without four of his South American stars for today’s trip to Brentford - while striker Liam Delap faces up to 12 weeks on the sidelines.

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The Blues’ three Brazilians - Joao Pedro, Estevao Willian and Andrey Santos - arrived back in England on Thursday after playing in their country’s 1-0 defeat to Bolivia, whilst Moises Caicedo returned late on Thursday night following Ecuador's victory over Argentina.

Brazil's game took place at an altitude of more than 4,000m, creating a further complicating factor in recovery times.

“The three Brazilian players arrived yesterday, they didn’t train, they did some recovery sessions,” said Maresca. “Moises arrived last night. They're all a question mark (for today).”

Enzo Fernandez was suspended for Argentina's World Cup qualifiers and remained at the club’s Cobham training base.

Both the world champions and Brazil had already secured their place at next summer's finals in the United States, Canada and Mexico prior to the latest round of fixtures.

The Italian also confirmed that Delap is likely to be out for up to 12 weeks following the hamstring injury he sustained before the international break.