Chelsea4 - 2Gent

The Europa Conference League is currently being earmarked as a way of Enzo Maresca being able to make full use of his vastly-populated squad at Stamford Bridge.

A total of 11 changes were made for Thursday's opening League Phase fixture against Gent, the Blues coming through by a 4-2 scoreline.

Renato Veiga, Pedro Neto, Christopher Nkunku and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall all got on the scoresheet as the Premier League giants took their first step towards trying to finish in the top eight of the standings.

However, one of the downsides of the evening for Chelsea fans was not being able to see Chukwuemeka granted another opportunity in the senior ranks having been reintegrated back into the squad.

Chukwuemeka had initially appeared likely to go out on loan, only for Maresca to bring the playmaker back into the fold when a suitable offer did not arrive.

Maresca comments on Chukwuemeka absence

Having played the closing stages of the EFL Cup tie versus Barrow, the expectation had been that Chukwuemeka would be selected on the substitutes' bench.

Instead, Kaino Dyer was a surprise inclusion among the replacements, naturally leading to curiosity as to why Chukwuemeka was not involved.

Speaking to the club's official website, Maresca has revealed that Chukwuemeka due to be selected before being a late withdrawal from the squad.

The Italian said: "Carney was in the squad [for Gent] but didn't feel well during the night. He was ill, this is why he wasn't in the squad."

When will be Chukwuemeka's next opportunity?

For the foreseeable future, it appears highly unlikely that Chukwuemeka will be considered for Premier League fixtures.

Either side of the upcoming international break, Chelsea face games against Nottingham Forest and Liverpool respectively.

However, there will be two opportunities for Chukwuemeka at the back end of October, away against Panathinaikos and Newcastle United in the Europa Conference League and EFL Cup respectively.