Chelsea sweat over Pedro, James and Caicedo ahead of Brentford trip
Chelsea trained on Tuesday without Pedro, Reece James and Moises Caicedo in the open session, adding fresh selection concerns before Friday night’s trip to Brentford.
Pedro and James doubts emerge
Pedro’s absence is a major worry after his fast start to the campaign. The Brazilian has produced three goals and three assists across five appearances, most recently striking a late leveller in Saturday’s draw with Hull City.
Captain James was also not involved with the main group. The England international has been used regularly in central midfield and has played every minute in three of Chelsea’s four league matches.
- Pedro has six direct goal contributions in five outings.
- James completed the full match against Hull and showed no obvious sign of a problem at the final whistle.
- Neither player’s fitness situation was clarified after Tuesday’s session.
Caicedo remains under careful management
Caicedo’s continued absence is less unexpected, with the Ecuador midfielder still working his way back from a recurring physical issue. The 24-year-old has yet to start this season.
He missed the opening-weekend game against Fulham, then made a 14-minute substitute appearance during the 4-3 win over Brighton. The problem returned after that cameo, ruling him out of the matches against Arsenal and Leeds.
Alonso had already made clear before the Hull fixture that Chelsea would not rush Caicedo back. The head coach said the club would assess him ahead of Brentford but stressed that no chances would be taken with the midfielder’s recovery.
Palestra and Henderson boost Chelsea options
There was better news from Tuesday’s work as summer arrivals Marco Palestra and Jordan Henderson trained fully with the squad.
- Palestra is moving closer to his first Chelsea appearance.
- Henderson is also in contention to make his long-awaited debut.
- Both could offer Alonso extra options if Pedro, James or Caicedo cannot travel.
What happens next
Chelsea face Keith Andrews’ Brentford away on Friday evening, with Alonso expected to give a further update on his three missing players before the match. The Blues need to regain momentum after the Hull draw, and their new signings and squad players may be required to take on a bigger role in west London.
