Maurizio Sarri has declared the controversy over Chelsea goalkeeper Kepa refusing to be substituted in the dying seconds of the Carabao Cup final as 'closed' - but could not confirm when the Spanish international would be reinstated as the club's first-choice shotstopper.
Both the Italian coach and the 23-year-old keeper have insisted that Sunday's incident was a 'misunderstanding' but the aftermath, in which Chelsea fined and dropped the player, suggests that may have simply been a strategy to smooth over an embarrassing situation for the under-fire Chelsea boss.
Kepa was demoted to the bench for Wednesday night's 2-0 win over Tottenham at Stamford Bridge, but will be in the squad for Sunday's trip to Craven Cottage even if Sarri wouldn't confirm that the Spain keeper would start.
"Kepa is our first goalkeeper but we are very happy for Willy, now we know very well that he is able to play in a very difficult match," Sarri said at Friday's press conference.
"I am sure that Kepa will play in one of the next two matches."
Chelsea visit neighbours Fulham this weekend looking to further compound the club's relegation misery.
Then Dynamo Kiev visit Stamford Bridge in the first leg of the Europa League's round-of-16.
And while Chelsea are blessed with few injuries at present, Sarri confirmed they will make a number of changes after a tough week of football.
"On Sunday we played for 130 minutes, 95 on Wednesday, we need to evaluate their recovery. We ran for 15km on Sunday as average, the average of the last match was 12."
"We need to change three or four players."
