The Albany Gazette - Maresca to lean on Chelsea squad depth for trip to Kazakhstan

The Italian has rotated the Blues' huge squad to great effect in his debut season at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea are second behind Liverpool in the Premier League and have already cruised into the knockout stages of the Europa Conference League with two games to spare with a 100 percent record.

Maresca can therefore afford the luxury of handing youngsters a chance to shine against Astana, while leaving most of his Premier League regulars back home in London.

"You never know whether we might need one of the guys who play tomorrow on Sunday," said Maresca ahead of the 6,000 mile (9,600 km) round trip to the Kazakh capital.

"Ideally, we would not because we land at six o'clock on Friday morning and it's not normal to do that and then play on Sunday, but in case we need they are going to make the effort."

Teenage defender Josh Acheampong is among those set to make his first senior start on Thursday.

Maresca has also used the Conference League to keep more established stars such as Christopher Nkunku and Joao Felix happy despite limited Premier League minutes.

"The target since we started the season is to allow all of them, no matter the competition, to play 90 minutes every week," added Maresca.

"Most of those who play tomorrow would have also played against Southampton last week (in the Premier League).

"So we will try to keep them in the regular situation of playing 90 minutes every week. This is what we’re trying to do."

(R.White--TAG)