Chelsea squad vs Heidenheim confirmed as 12 players left behind and five youngsters called up

Enzo Maresca has made changes to his Chelsea squad for Thursday evening's Europa Conference League tie against Heidenheim. The Blues have made an excellent start to the league phase of UEFA's third club competition and currently lead the way in the 36-team league after registering three wins from three.

Chelsea hit Noah for eight in their last European tie but things will not be as straightforward when they play in Germany in the 5.45pm kick-off as their opponents also have a 100% record. While Heidenheim have made an excellent start to life in the Europa Conference League, Frank Schmidt's team currently sit 15th in the Bundesliga table, two points above St. Pauli in the relegation play-off place.

Maresca has demonstrated in Europe so far this season a willingness to rotate his team and give those on the periphery of the Premier League starting XI a go. For Thursday evening's game against Heidenheim, the Italian has elected to leave seven first-team players behind in west London.

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Malo Gusto and Pedro Neto, who missed Saturday's win at Leicester due to illness and a knock respectively, remain in the capital as Maresca does not want to take any risks with them ahead of this weekend's game against Aston Villa. Reece James, as expected, is also not part of the squad following his latest injury setback.

Others not to make the trip include Moises Caicedo, Marc Cucurella, Enzo Fernandez and Nicolas Jackson. Marcus Bettinelli, Ben Chilwell, Wesley Fofana, Romeo Lavia and Cole Palmer have also not made the trip as they are not registered in the Chelsea squad for the Europa Conference League.

Due to the amount of players omitted from the travelling party, Maresca has called up a number of academy players for the encounter against the Bundesliga side. Tyrique George is once again in the matchday squad after starting in the team's last European outing against Noah.

Goalkeeper Lucas Bergstrom is also part of Maresca's thinking for Thursday evening, as are midfield duo Kiano Dyer and Samuel Rak-Sakyi. There is also a place in the squad for 17-year-old striker Shumaira Mheuka, who has featured regularly for the Blues in Premier League 2 this term.

Chelsea's travelling squad for the European tie against Heidenheim is as follows:

Goalkeepers: Robert Sanchez, Filip Jorgensen, Lucas Bergstrom

Defenders: Axel Disasi, Tosin Adarabioyo, Benoit Badiashile, Levi Colwill, Renato Veiga

Midfielders: Cesare Casadei, Carney Chukwuemeka, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Kiano Dyer, Samuel Rak-Sakyi

Forwards: Tyrique George, Noni Madueke, Joao Felix, Mykhailo Mudryk, Jadon Sancho, Marc Guiu, Shumaira Mheuka, Christopher Nkunku