Chelsea injury news: Xabi Alonso delivers update on Joao Pedro, Moises Caicedo ahead of Brentford showdown

Xabi Alonso has claimed that Joao Pedro could still play for Chelsea against Brentford on Friday night.

The Blues and the Bees square off at the Gtech Community Stadium with the opportunity to move into third place in the Premier League table.

On Wednesday night, it appeared that Chelsea had suffered a major injury blow, with Pedro having been ruled out of action for Brazil across the upcoming international break.

With Pedro having also missed at least one training session earlier this week, the assumption was that the in-form attacker would not feature in the West London derby.

However, speaking at a press conference on Thursday afternoon, Alonso indicated that Pedro may still be named in his squad.

Alonso provides Pedro, Caicedo injury updates

The Spaniard was provided with several questions from the media on Pedro, Moises Caicedo, Reece James, Jordan Henderson and Marco Palestra, remaining coy on their respective involvements.

On Pedro, Alonso told reporters: "In terms of injuries and in terms of the squad, we are having the last training session today so no one is ruled out for us for Friday, so I prefer to be cautious and we will be waiting until tomorrow to make the final decision on every player."

He then added that Pedro being selected in his squad was a "possibility".

Alonso said of Caicedo: "He is getting closer and tomorrow we will take the final decision in the team and in the squad that is coming to Brentford."

With regards to James missing training on Tuesday, he replied: "It was just a decision for Tuesday. We will see his development and tomorrow we will decide."

When Henderson and Palestra were added to the line of questioning, Alonso concluded: "Tomorrow, final decision. Sorry I am repeating, but your questions are the same.

"The players know everything we need to assess, all the decisions with the last training and tomorrow we will take the decisions for the game at Brentford."

Will Pedro, Caicedo, James face Brentford?

Taking everything into consideration, James appears most likely to feature for Chelsea, the assumption being that his absence from training on Tuesday was to manage his physical load.

Alonso will realistically err on the side of caution with Caicedo and Pedro, with Danny Welbeck in line to replace the latter and attempt to achieve a career first.

There is also the expectation that Henderson - who has been back in training after a wrist injury - will be named on the substitutes bench against his former club.