Chelsea defender, Malo Gusto, is available for Saturday’s London derby against Tottenham Hotspur at Stamford Bridge, but Pep Chavarria, Emmanuel Emegha and goalkeeper Emi Martinez remain sidelined through injury.
Head coach Xabi Alonso confirmed Gusto’s return ahead of the Premier League encounter, while revealing that Chavarria and Emegha have yet to recover sufficiently to feature.
Chavarria, a left-back, has increased his training workload but will not be ready for the match, while striker Emegha is also still working towards a return.
“ Malo is fine. Pep is training a bit more, but he’s not going to make it,” Alonso said.
Providing an update on Emegha, the Chelsea boss added, “He’s feeling better, but we still need to wait.”
Goalkeeper Martinez will also miss the encounter after undergoing surgery for a broken jaw sustained during Chelsea’s 2-0 victory over Everton last weekend.
The Argentina international was stretchered off following a collision with Everton defender Jarrad Branthwaite during the match.
Martinez has expressed hope of returning within a few weeks, with Alonso confirming that the goalkeeper is making progress following the operation.
“He’s doing better,” said Alonso. “He had the surgery and day by day he’s feeling better, but we still need to wait.
“It will be a few weeks – hopefully fewer rather than more. The good thing is that he’s feeling better, and we need to listen to how he feels and to the opinion of the doctors and the maxillofacial specialists.
“Considering it was a bad one, he’s doing well.”
Chelsea head into the derby sitting fourth in the Premier League standings with 13 points from seven matches, eight points behind leaders Manchester City.
Tottenham, meanwhile, occupy 16th position with six points, although they will approach Saturday’s fixture with renewed confidence after securing a 3-1 home victory over Coventry on Monday.
