Chelsea receive timely boosts from Brazil, Ecuador World Cup qualifiers ahead of Brentford Premier League fixture

Chelsea have received what can be viewed as four timely boosts ahead of Saturday's Premier League fixture against Brentford.

The Blues went into the September international break sitting in second place in the table, yet with Enzo Maresca admitting publicly that he was already ready for a period of rest after the summer efforts at the Club World Cup.

However, a wide array of first-team players have been away with their respective nations, the vast majority involved in World Cup qualifiers around the globe.

With Chelsea facing West London neighbours Brentford on Saturday night, several of their South American contingent playing in the early hours of Wednesday morning was far from ideal.

Nevertheless, there were four instances of Maresca receiving a boost ahead of attempting to extend their early Premier League unbeaten record.

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Estevao among Brazil bonuses

Last week, Estevao Willian and Joao Pedro both started the 3-0 victory over Chile, the former netting his first senior Brazil goal.

Maresca may have been wary of two of his current first-choice attacking contingent being overused against Bolivia in a game that was played at an altitude of 4,150 metres.

However, they were each named on the substitutes' bench and only played the closing 29 minutes of a 1-0 defeat.

Meanwhile, Andrey Santos - who has been devoid of a start for club or country for over a month - played the opening 73 minutes in what will be viewed as a plus by Maresca.

The centre midfielder now has much-needed game time under his belt in extreme conditions ahead of the likelihood of him being used on a rotational basis over the coming weeks as Chelsea's schedule ramps up.

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Caicedo red a blessing in disguise for Chelsea

As for Moises Caicedo, he is generally viewed as one of the first names on the teamsheet by Maresca, with the Blues benefitting from the midfielder being rested for the first or Ecuador's two World Cup qualifiers.

Caicedo returned for the tussle against Argentina, his nation recording a 1-0 win over the world champions, but he had been sent off by the 50-minute mark for receiving a second yellow card.

While that came as a blow to his country at the time, it meant an unforeseen rest for Caicedo ahead of the upcoming triple-header of Brentford, Bayern Munich and Manchester United in the space of a week.