Enzo Maresca believes rotation to his Chelsea side will be necessary against ES Tunis, and says illness was the reason behind Reece James' absence from training today.
Our final Group D fixture at the FIFA Club World Cup takes place tomorrow evening at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. If the Blues avoid defeat, a place in the knockout stage awaits.
Tunis will not make that a simple task. The Tunisian champions will progress to the Round of 16 if they overcome the Blues – and they showcased their quality in a 1-0 victory over MLS side Los Angeles FC.
The searing temperatures in Pennsylvania, which have now risen to 38 degrees Celsius, have not made preparation easy for Maresca and his squad.
That factor, coupled with the number of games the Blues have played since the start of the season, means The Blues head coach will look to freshen up his side against Tunis.
He said: 'Tomorrow, we will do some rotation because the ones who played two games are quite tired to play again.
'So we will make rotation, and we will see if there is a chance for those who haven’t played as much.’
The Chelsea squad undertook a short training session this morning, and it was highlighted to Maresca during his pre-match press conference that James and Nicolas Jackson, who will miss the Tunis game due to suspension, were not involved.
He replied: ‘Reece, the reason why [he didn't train] is because he is ill. Levi Colwill has also been ill in the last two days, but today was better and part of the session.
’Nico was not in the session this morning, as it’s the day before the game and we just used the ones who are available for the game.'
On the heat restricting time out on the training pitches, Maresca added: ‘It’s almost impossible to train a full session because of the weather.
'We are trying to save energy for the game; this morning’s session was very short, just plan for tomorrow, that’s it. No more than that.
'It’s not easy with these temperatures, but we will give our best tomorrow to get to the next stage of the competition.'
Chelsea's game against ES Tunis kicks off at 2am UK time on Wednesday. You can watch that and every other game at the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 live for free by signing up with DAZN here.