Xabi Alonso confirmed that Chelsea will still be without Moises Caicedo for Saturday’s Premier League clash with newly-promoted Hull City.
Caicedo missed Chelsea’s league opener against Fulham but was returned to the substitute bench for the following game against Brighton.
However, the midfielder lasted just 14 minutes as a sub before a recurrence of his injury saw the Ecuador international brought back off in the 4-3 win at Stamford Bridge.
The 24-year-old has missed the subsequent games against Arsenal and Leeds, and Alonso thinks that this weekend will be too early to bring Caicedo back into the squad.
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‘Not yet, we’ll see for Brentford,’ the Chelsea boss said in his pre-match press conference.
‘We’re not at a moment to take risks with him. Not yet; we are not yet.’
Elsewhere, Alonso confirmed that Marco Palestra, Jordan Henderson and Emmanuel Emegha will also not be fit for Saturday’s match.
All three players have yet to make a competitive appearance since joining the Blues this summer, but Alonso suggested that Henderson and Emegha could feature next week against Brentford.
‘Not tomorrow. We hope they can be for Brentford, but we’ll see,’ he said.
Chelsea have made a free-flowing start to life under Alonso, scoring 15 goals in their first five matches in all competitions under the Spaniard.
But the west Londoners could face an awkward challenge at the weekend up against a Hull side who are yet to concede in their first three league matches of the season.
‘They deserve to be where they are,’ Alonso said of Hull’s start to the season. They have played against United, Coventry and Villa, and they’ve done it really well.
‘They’ve built a clear idea of what they want, how they want to compete. The mentality, they want to fight with everything.’
Meanwhile, Hull boss Sergej Jakirovic confirmed that his side have no new injury concerns, with Brooke Norton-Cuffy and Paddy McNair recovering from minor issues.
‘Still Morita, Charlie Hughes but I think that’s it,’ Jakirovic said. ‘Cuffy is fine after a scan, Paddy McNair is fine. Some problems after the Sunderland game but nothing special and they will be available for the game.
‘Norton-Cuffy felt his calf after the game against Aston Villa. The next day we sent him for a scan and the scan said there was nothing. He felt something off the ball. He didn’t feel good with his calf and we took precaution.
‘I am sorry we didn’t use him against Sunderland because it would have been good but also it’s very good that he stays healthy because we need every player, especially in this position and sometimes we are short in this position.’
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