Chelsea head coach Frank Lampard has explained his team selection for tonight's Champions League clash with Sevilla.
There are three changes to the side which threw away a 2-0 and 3-2 lead against Southampton at the weekend - and they are all in the back five with Kepa Arrizabalaga, Cesar Azpilicueta and Andreas Christensen all dropping out.
As a result, Edouard Mendy returns after missing the Saints clash through injury, while Reece James and Thiago Silva have also been drafted back into the starting XI.
However, Lampard insists the changes aren't directly related to what happened at Stamford Bridge from a few days ago.
"Not necessarily, we haven't had a chance to have Thiago in our team much because of his arrival and obviously he travelled to Brazil and came back on Thursday and was really tired for the weekend otherwise he would have probably played that," Lampard told BT Sport.
"It's great to have his experience and quality back in.
"Similar with Mendy, we brought him in and he played two really good games for us and came out, so he's back in.
"Reece James - probably the most difficult position on the pitch for me because I have Azpi who I can always rely on and Reece who is showing great qualities as well.
"I think they are changes to hopefully keep us secure and I think Reece can offer us a lot going forward on the right-hand side as well."
With that said, Kepa, Christensen and Azpilicueta are all among the substitutes alongside big-money summer signing Hakim Ziyech who is yet to make his first start.
The other game in this group sees Rennes take on Krasnodar.
Chelsea reached the last-16 stage of the competition last season as they were beaten quite comprehensively by Bayern Munich who went on to beat PSG in the final.
Lampard will be hopeful of improvement this season.
With the likes of Kai Havertz, Christian Pulisic and Timo Werner in attack, the Blues certainly have the firepower to go deep in the tournament.
