Chelsea Hit By Injury Scare As Three Key Players Miss Training Before Brentford Clash

Chelsea boss Xabi Alonso has an injury headache on his hands after three important first-team players, including star forward Joao Pedro, missed training on Tuesday morning ahead of Friday's away trip to Brentford.

According to Sky Sports journalist James Savundra, Pedro sat out the open part of Tuesday's session at Cobham. The Brazilian has been Chelsea's best player so far this season, with three goals and three assists in just five games. He was the one who bailed the Blues out with a late equaliser against Hull City on Saturday.

Pedro wasn't the only one missing. Captain Reece James and midfielder Moises Caicedo were also absent from the main group. James has been a regular fixture in central midfield this season and played the full 90 minutes in three of Chelsea's four league games so far. He seemed to come through the Hull draw with no issues over the weekend, which makes his sudden absence all the more worrying for the club.

Caicedo's situation is a bit different. Alonso had already flagged concerns over his fitness before the Hull game, and the Ecuador international still hasn't started a single match this season. Speaking last week about whether Caicedo might be ready for Brentford, Alonso made it clear he wasn't going to rush things. "Not yet, we'll see for Brentford," he said.

He was even more direct about the risk of pushing the midfielder too soon. "We're not at a moment to take risks with him. Not yet; we are not yet," Alonso said.

Caicedo's season has been a frustrating one so far. He missed the opening game against Fulham, then only managed 14 minutes off the bench in a wild 4-3 win over Brighton before the injury flared up again. That kept him out of the games against Arsenal and Leeds too.

There was some good news from Tuesday's session, though. New signings Marco Palestra and Jordan Henderson both trained fully with the squad and look close to making their first appearances for the club.

Chelsea head to Brentford's GTech Stadium on Friday evening looking to get back to winning ways after their draw with Hull. With three key players potentially out, Alonso may need to lean on his summer signings and squad players to get through a tough away fixture against Keith Andrews' side.