Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca says it is “not normal” for a player to make the 16-hour round trip to Kazakhstan for Thursday’s Conference League match and then play on Sunday night against Brentford.
The Blues face an eight-hour flight for the 3,700-mile (6,000km) journey to Almaty, in the south of the country, where they will play Astana because of renovations to their home stadium in the Kazakhstan capital 600 miles away.
Chelsea will land back in London on Friday morning, before preparing to face Brentford in the Premier League at 19:00 GMT on Sunday, with the Blues currently second place, four points behind Liverpool.
“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,” said Maresca, whose side are top of the Conference League table with four wins from four.
Chelsea face an extended flight time because the plane needs to take a non-direct route away from conflict zones in Ukraine, Russia and Syria.
Temperatures are also forecast to be as low as -11C, while the Premier League side will stay on Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) during their 18-hour stay in the central Asian country, which is five hours ahead of GMT.
The Italian confirmed a number of first-team players will be rested for the trip, including England winger Noni Madueke, with Portugal winger Pedro Neto 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 in the travelling squad.
Young defender Josh Acheampong will “probably start” on Thursday, and the 18-year-old academy graduate is close to signing a new contract.
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 ones that are not involved tomorrow, first of all, they’re going to be training, and they have to train well,” added 44-year-old Italian Maresca.
“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.”
“But if we need [them to], they are going to make the effort.”
When asked about the cold, confirmed starter Axel Disasi said: “We just have to put on two pairs of gloves and be ready to compete in these conditions.
“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 allowed Chelsea to have a late kick-off time on Sunday because of the trip, which is why the Brentford game will kick off at 19:00 GMT.
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