Chelsea confirm 20-man travelling squad vs Astana as Nkunku decision made | OneFootball

Chelsea have confirmed a travelling squad of 20 have made the journey to Kazakhstan to face FC Astana in the Conference League.

After an eight-hour flight to Almaty, Chelsea have touched down ahead of Thursday's League Phase clash against FC Astana, with the Blues looking to claim a fifth win from as many games to secure progression into the knockout stages.

Head coach Enzo Maresca confirmed many of his first-team players would be left back in England at their Cobham training base, however the likes of Filip Jorgensen, Axel Disasi, Tosin Adarabioyo, Renato Veiga, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Pedro Neto have all travelled.

Josh Acheampong is set to start for Chelsea on Thursday after contract talks with the club progressed, while Tyrique George and Marc Guiu will both be pushing for starts.

Mykhailo Mudryk is currently ill, while Joao Felix reportedly has an issue which has ruled him out of the trip. Although he was expected to travel, Christopher Nkunku has remained in England and will now prepare with the others for the Premier League clash against Brentford this weekend.

"Overall, I think we are going to have one or two from the second team playing from the start and then the rest, we will see," confirmed Maresca on Wednesday prior to them boarding the plane.

"The rest are all first-team players. The message to the young ones is just to enjoy the moment because it is always nice to be with the first team and be involved in a European competition. It is very important."

As confirmed by the club, is the confirmed travelling list of Chelsea players to Almaty for the Conference League match against FC Astana,

Goalkeepers: Filip Jorgensen, Lucas Bergstrom, Max Merrick

Defenders: Axel Disasi, Tosin Adarabioyo, Renato Veiga, Josh Acheampong, Harrison Murray-Campbell, Richard Olise, Kaiden Wilson