Chelsea star absent for training amid Enzo Maresca blow and is now huge Astana doubt

Mykhailo Mudryk was not present at training ahead of Chelsea's UEFA Conference League trip to Kazakhstan to face Astana on Thursday.

The 23-year-old winger has not been involved in Chelsea's last two matches in the Premier League against Southampton and Tottenham because of illness. It looks as if Mudryk has not been able to shake off his illness ahead of the Blues' match with Astana.

The Ukraine international has been an essential figure in the west Londoners' Conference League campaign thus far, scoring three and assisting the same amount in Chelsea's opening four matches of the newly-named league phase.

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Chelsea are expected to leave several first-team players back at Cobham while they make the 7000-mile round trip to Kazakhstan. Noni Madueke, who is now set to start on the right wing against Brentford following Pedro Neto's fifth yellow card of the season at Tottenham, is among those staying put in the UK.

Asked if Madueke would stay, Enzo Maresca said: "He is going to stay, yeah." And then asked about Neto, the Chelsea head coach was a little bit more coy: "You want to know the first XI for tomorrow and Sunday [laughs]?"

He added: "The yellow, the Pedro yellow card, is a normal yellow card, it wasn't a useless or a yellow card that we don't need. In that case, it is a bit different but with Pedro's one, it was the right moment to do the foul. He will be suspended against Brentford but will be available for the next game."

On the trip itself, that is set to take a major toll on the players that are travelling, Maresca continued: "We have a session now, then we fly there, eight hours, then we arrive, have dinner, then bed. Fortunately, they are five hours ahead of us so that means when we wake up tomorrow, it is already midday here in England.

"We are going to be there less than 24 hours. It is more the flight, the temperature, and on Friday we are going to land about 6 o'clock in London and it is already Friday and we have a game on Sunday. But we have to play."