Chelsea will once again have to field a depleted side when they take on their West London neighbours Brentford in the quarter-finals of the EFL Cup on Wednesday night.

Thomas Tuchel was only able to name four outfield players on his bench for Sunday's goalless draw with Wolverhampton Wanderers, having been angered by the Premier League's refusal to accept their request for a postponement.

That fury is unlikely to abate at being forced into action again so soon afterwards, with Chelsea now thought to have returned as many as seven positive coronavirus tests.

Only five of those have been identified so far - Romelu Lukaku, Timo Werner, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Ben Chilwell and Lewis Baker - and the quintet will all miss out again in midweek.

Jorginho was left out against Wolves after returning an inconclusive test, but he was able to return to training on Monday and so could be involved.

The European champions will also assess Trevoh Chalobah and Hakim Ziyech, who added to their woes on Sunday by limping off injured at Molineux.

Neither injury is thought to be serious, but the quick turnaround in games makes them major doubts for this match, and Tuchel is unlikely to take any risks, with the Premier League his immediate priority.

The German manager has also confirmed that N'Golo Kante will play no part, having played through the pain barrier at the weekend.

Chelsea will keep tabs on Kai Havertz, who has returned a negative COVID test but missed out against Wolves with illness nonetheless, and the German could be ready to lead the line having scored four goals in his two League Cup games to date.

Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Andreas Christensen will also be assessed ahead of kickoff after missing out against Wolves due to knocks, although Tuchel is again likely to exercise caution over anyone short of full fitness.

The list of absentees means that Tuchel will look to rotate wherever possible for this match, which could mean starts for fringe players such as Kepa Arrizabalaga, Malang Sarr, Saul Niguez and Ross Barkley.

There could be opportunities for young players too after Tuchel promoted nine of them to first-team training to help with numbers.

Fit-again Mateo Kovacic could also come back into the side for his first start since October.

Chelsea possible starting lineup: Kepa; Azpilicueta, Rudiger, Sarr; James, Saul, Kovacic, Alonso; Mount, Barkley; Havertz body check tags ::