Chelsea will be without ten players for the Middlesbrough Carabao Cup semi-final

Chelsea are set to be without ten first-team players on Tuesday evening when Middlesbrough visit in the deciding leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final, having suffered two blows ahead of the game.

Boro hold a 1-0 lead in the tie following the first leg at the Riverside. It was a game that saw both sides without many important first-team players as both sides suffer from injuries right now. For Chelsea, Marc Cucurella, Robert Sanchez, Reece James, Wesley Fofana, Lesley Ugochukwu and Romeo Lavia all remain out for the second leg, as does Trevoh Chalobah who has returned to training but won't be ready.

Suffering a further two injury blows ahead of this one, the first saw confirmation that £30m signing Malo Gusto will miss the game - the young Frenchman being the only attacking full-back option Chelsea currently have. The Blues had hoped to welcome back forward Christopher Nkunku for the game as well, but boss Mauricio Pochettino has now confirmed that won't be possible either.

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He told media at his pre-match press conference: "No. He's not available. It's a shame. He's still recovering. He suffered a little bit in his hip, now he's recovering. It's not a big issue. It's just delayed the possibility of being available again."

The tenth player who won't be available to Pochettino on Tuesday evening is Cesare Casadei, the Italian midfielder who has been recalled from his loan spell at Leicester City. He is cup-tied in this competition, however. Chelsea do have Ben Chilwell, Carney Chukwuemeka and Benoit Badiashile back in contention after the trio returned from injury in their last outing against Fulham.