Djurgardens IF vs. Chelsea: Enzo Maresca comments on artificial pitch, games watched in preparation for Conference League semi-final

Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca has admitted that his players must adapt to the conditions that they will face when playing Djurgardens IF on Thursday night.

The Blues have made the trip to Sweden for the first leg of their Conference League semi-final with the surprise package of the competition.

While the Allsvenskan side are bidding to reach the final of a European competition for the first time in their history, Chelsea are looking to edge closer to completing the set of European trophies.

Although the Premier League giants are the clear favourites to prevail across the two matches, they must play the first leg on an artificial pitch.

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"It's completely different"

Speaking at his pre-match press conference, Maresca acknowledged that the conditions would be "completely different" from many that his young crop of players had experienced.

Nevertheless, the Italian has acknowledged that it cannot be used as an excuse as his team bid to build on recent victories over Fulham and Everton respectively.

As quoted by football.london, Maresca said: "Personally, I watched six games. Some of them are in the Conference League and some are the league.

"The only thing in the league they use players they don't use in the Conference League. It's not easy to analyse. Then, also, the pitch here is a bit different to the ones we are used to.

"We are going to try and prepare the game in the best way and think about all the small details."

He added: "It's completely different. Even some of their players have been complaining about the pitch. For us, it's a different one but we don't have excuses or reasons why we are not going to compete tomorrow or in the second game.

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Chelsea missing duo

Earlier on Wednesday afternoon, it was revealed that goalkeeper Robert Sanchez and forward Christopher Nkunku had been left out of the squad with minor injuries.

Despite the prospect of facing Liverpool in the Premier League on Sunday, Maresca has hinted that he plans to name a strong XI.

Djurgardens currently sit in 10th position in the Allsvenskan table, albeit with a game in hand. Earlier in the Conference League, though, they have defeated the likes of Panathinaikos and Legia Warsaw at the 3Arena.