The first team squad this afternoon (Monday) departed for Cluj-Napoca Airport in Romania, minus Joe Cole who is still struggling with injury.

The midfielder, who missed Saturday's trip to Stoke, is still out with a small tear in the muscle around his hip. He should return to training with the squad on Thursday.

Salomon Kalou has recovered sufficiently from his injury picked up in the Stoke game to travel. Deco (upper thigh muscle tear) and Ricardo Carvalho (knee) will be working with the medical staff for at least another 10 days before they are ready to start training. They remain doubts for the starting line-up against Middlesbrough on 18 October.

Two Chelsea Academy products, keeper Rhys Taylor and winger Miroslav Stoch, have been included in the trip to Romania.

The decision was made to fly today rather than tomorrow in order for the players to be able to get some proper rest ahead of tomorrow's open training session at the Dr Constantin Radulescu Stadium.

When the plane lands, the side can look forward to cloudy weather during their stay, with the possibility of warm, sunny spells in central Romania.

You can follow the team's preparation tomorrow here on chelseafc.com, and keep up with the action live on Wednesday night, via Chelsea Plus and the Matchday Centre.