Chelsea are hoping to have Joao Pedro and Cole Palmer back available for Sunday’s FA Cup semi-final against Leeds at Wembley.
The match will be the Blues’ first since Liam Rosenior was sacked as head coach on Wednesday and replaced by his assistant Calum McFarlane, who will be the interim head coach for the remainder of the season.
McFarlane gave an update on the pair in his first press conference since taking over the reins from Rosenior this week.
Joao Pedro missed matches against Manchester United and Brighton due to a thigh injury but he has been in training this week, while Palmer was absent from the drubbing on the Sussex coast with a hamstring issue.
“Joao and Cole have trained,” McFarlane said on Friday.
“They’re in a good place. We don’t know yet. We’ve got another day tomorrow where we’ll look at that and make a decision.
”We hope [they could both start]. They’ll train tomorrow and we’ll make a call.”
Estevao is considered by some to be a World Cup doubt and it is confirmed that he will not feature again for Chelsea this season due to the injury sustained early on in the United game.
"Estevao unfortunately won't play for us this season,” McFarlane continued.
“He’ll be out for a little bit of time. But we’re here to support him.”
Levi Colwill is expected to play for the Under-21s again this weekend and is not yet ready to play his first minutes of the season for the first team following his serious knee injury suffered in pre-season.
Rosenior set Chelsea up with a back three against Brighton on Tuesday night before rolling back on that decision at half-time when the Blues trailed at the Amex Stadium.
McFarlane is likely to go with a 4-2-3-1 formation. Liam Delap could lead the line again if Joao Pedro is fully fit. He may favour Andrey Santos as Moises Caicedo’s midfield partner and could push Enzo Fernandez up into the No10 position.
Jamie Gittens and goalkeeper Filip Jorgensen are slightly longer-term absentees and remain sidelined.
Chelsea predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Sanchez; Gusto, Fofana, Chalobah, Cucurella; Santos, Caicedo; Palmer, Fernandez, Neto; Joao Pedro
Doubts: Palmer, Joao Pedro
Injured: James, Estevao, Colwill, Jorgensen, Gittens
Time and date: 3pm GMT on Sunday April 26, 2026
Venue: Wembley Stadium
How to watch: BBC One
