Every word Enzo Maresca said on Pedro Neto injury, Cole Palmer return, Chelsea rotation, Qarabag

The full transcript from Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca's pre-match press conference ahead of the Blues' Champions League fixture away at Qarabag tomorrow evening

Enzo Maresca has just completed his pre-match press conference ahead of Chelsea's Champions League trip to Qarabag tomorrow evening.

The Blues will fly to Baku in Azerbaijan later today to begin a 5000-mile round trip for their fourth European fixture of the campaign. Maresca has just spoke to a room full of journalists at Chelsea's training base in Cobham - and here is every word the head coach had to say ahead of tomorrow's game:

No Pedro Neto out there that we saw, has he got a problem?

Yeah, not a problem, just a small issue. So we try to protect him. He's not involved in tomorrow's game.

But after that hopefully?

Yes.

But it'll be another game I guess where you have to rotate the squad, particularly given the logistics, the travel, the time difference...

Yeah, it's an important game because it can give us three wins in a row in the Champions League, can give us nine points and so it's very important. For sure we need to, again probably we need to rotate some of the players also because I think we'll come back in London Thursday morning, six o'clock and then Saturday we have one more game. So it's a demanding schedule but we're going to try to adapt and do our best.

Reasons to be cautious of Qarabag?

Absolutely, yes. And also because they are a good team. They beat Benfica, they beat Copenhagen, they were winning against Bilbao and then at the end they lost. But for sure it's going to be a tough game for different reasons.

Will Cole Palmer be back for the Barcelona game?

We hope so, but with Cole we try to plan, we try to schedule, you know, at the beginning. Then we need to review that. So in this moment we go day by day with Cole. He's not taking any session with the team. And we have Benoit Badiashile that probably can be available after the international break and that is for us is a huge news.

But ideally for Barcelona and then Arsenal?

To be honest, I would like to have Cole here tomorrow. I would like to have Cole early. I said many times that we are a better team with Cole. Unfortunately for us, he's out, he's injured, but for sure we want him back very soon.

Is there a temptation to leave anyone else in the UK?

No, just Pedro Neto.

Any update on Dario Essugo and when he will return?

No, I think he's still out for a while, probably, I don't know if the new year, I don't know, January, December, January. Not sure yet, but we are already in November. As you said, yeah, Moi [Caicedo] is doing well. We have also Romeo [Lavia] that is covering that position. We have Andrey Santos that is covering that position. In some moment, we'll use also, I don't know, Josh [Acheampong], we'll use Reece [James]. We try, as we always said, we try to find a solution when we miss players.

What are your impressions of Qarabag?

Yeah, as a team, to be honest, they are a very good team. They are a very intense team. The way they press, the way they work together as a team, you can see that it's many, many years they work with the same manager. And then, especially at home, they are more intense. And as I said, it will be tough.

Will Filip Jorgensen start tomorrow?

He could be an option, yeah. It could be an option also because we need also both 'keepers ready. And at the end, we need to deal or treat with Robert also in the same way. We try to deal with different things.

Does Jorgensen leave that sort of similar time to make his mark that it's taken Robert Sanchez this long to settle in?

It's also true that I think Robert arrived again and he was playing from the beginning since the day he arrived here. I feel it's a bit different. He arrived here and joined our club knowing that Robert was the number one choice. But last year, he was playing all the Conference League games. We used him in the Premier League. We used him in the different competitions. And he is doing well this season. It's not easy for players in general, but it's even worse for goalkeepers when you don't play and you have to play some game because it's very difficult for a keeper.

Do you still have full trust in him?

100%.

You mentioned just now that Qarabag have had the same manager for quite a long time. Is that something you can see yourself doing? Staying at one club for 17, 18 years?

Yes, something like that. I've never seen that.

Is that the hope for this job? Yes, it's something unbelievable. Seventeen years now. It's amazing.

Is Reece James ready to play three games in a week now?

Reece is good. He's doing well. He's fit 100%. The way he behaves every game is top. Even when he's not playing, inside the changing room, the way with his teammates. Now, yes, I think he's going to play three games in a week. Also depends, I said many times, also depends on the way we use Reece. We didn't use him up and down. It's a big job for him, for Malo [Gusto], for any full-back to continue to do up and down. We use the full-back in a different way. Probably we also protect and save him in the way we try to play. I think he's ready to play three games in a week.

Have you got a point to tally in your mind that you think getting there you'll be safe in that top eight?

No idea. The last year I think was 15 or 16. Probably you need the same points and we are very far at the moment.

How come you're not in Baku yet and you're training in Cobham today?

No, it's also because of the schedule, because of the amount of games we used yesterday to recover after the Tottenham game. It was important to be in our facility, to use our facility for all the treatment that the players need. Probably if you go there, you don't have exactly the same. We try to, as you said, we try to balance both situations. Be ready for the game, recover all the energy, knowing that the flight, the four hours ahead, these kinds of things, especially when we arrive here. We will arrive here Thursday morning, six o'clock in the morning. We have a game after Saturday afternoon, Saturday night. But it's the schedule and we're going to try to adapt.

You'll stay on English time, I guess?

We'll stay on English time, yes.

Important game for Liam Delap?

Yeah, Liam is back. He's an important player for us. He's an option for tomorrow. I said already many times that I don't have any doubt that at the end of the season, we're going to be very happy with Liam in terms of goals, in terms of also the way he works off the ball, how intense he is when we need to press. So, no doubt that is going to help us.

We'll go to Peter Roetzler. Hi Enzo. Can you hear me? Sorry about that.

Is it important that when facing matches like against Qarabag, where you are the strong favourites, that you manage to maintain a strong performance level?

I don't think it's about being the favourite one. It's the way we try to deal with all the details of the game. Qarabag, I just said, they won two or three games like us in the Premier League. They were also winning the other one and then at the end they lost. It's a very good team. Organised, well-organised. The way they press, the way they are intense. So, it's going to be a tough game.

Where is Romeo Lavia at, physically?

The main target for Romeo now is to be fit. Don't get any injuries. For me, at this moment, Romeo is where Reece was more or less one year ago in terms of back after a long time. We need to manage him every minute, every day, every second. And the target with him is just to keep him fit. So, he's training with us. He''s OK. He's 100% fit. But we need to be very careful with him because we don't want him to be out again and finally he can enjoy being a football player.

Because of those fitness issues, is he able to perform quite well where you want him to at the moment?

In the Forest game, we planned for him 45 minutes. Then Ajax, I think he played one hour, 70 minutes. The other day against Tottenham, when he was on, he was very good. We are happy with Romeo. We are happy with the way he's progressing. And the only thing we want is to keep him fit. So, I would like to have Romeo inside the pitch always. But it's my duty to try to protect also him.