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Chelsea star Facundo Buonanotte will not feature in Enzo Maresca's squad this weekend despite delivering an impressive performance in Tuesday's Carabao Cup triumph over Lincoln.
The Blues are scheduled to take on Brighton and Hove Albion in the Premier League at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.
Prior to that fixture, the Carabao Cup commanded Enzo Maresca's attention with Tyrique George and Buonanotte orchestrating a remarkable comeback after Rob Street's first-half effort had given the League One outfit the advantage.
George restored parity shortly after the break with a spectacular long-range effort before Brighton loanee Buonanotte found the net moments afterwards to complete the turnaround.
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Assessing his performance against Lincoln, Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca observed: "Yeah, Buonanotte was very good. I think first-half, we all struggled a little bit, second-half I think we were much, much better.", reports the Mirror.
Nevertheless, despite Buonanotte's standout display, he will be absent for the Blues this weekend.
This stems from Chelsea facing his parent club Brighton, with Premier League loan regulations preventing players from appearing against their contracted team.
FA regulations stipulate a player "cannot play in a competition match against their parent club" in the FA Cup, whilst the Premier League handbook confirms that "during the period of the temporary transfer... a player shall not play against the transfer or club."
Fascinatingly, the League Cup contains no such limitations, meaning Buonanotte would only encounter his parent club if Chelsea and Brighton were to clash later in the competition.
Brighton advanced to the fourth round after dispatching League One side Barnsley on Tuesday evening.
Buonanotte's unavailability is likely to present Maresca with a selection dilemma, particularly given Cole Palmer's ongoing fitness concerns.
This situation could potentially open the door for Buonanotte's international colleague Alejandro Garnacho to secure his maiden Premier League start of the campaign.
Nevertheless, Maresca will be expecting a vastly improved showing from his squad after voicing his disappointment with Chelsea's opening 45 minutes against Lincoln.
When questioned about his frustration levels, the Italian replied: "Absolutely, absolutely [laughs]. No, because we prepared the game thinking exactly in the way it was the first-half, and sometimes it's not about desire, it's about winning [the] second ball, but it's also about experience.
"Jamie Gittens never played against League One [teams], these kind of games. Jorrel never played this kind of game.
"This kind of game, you have to play in a different way, you have to play in a different way. It's more about desire, and we struggled in the first half."
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