Academy Trio Miss Chelsea U21s Game To Train With First Team Ahead Of Brentford Trip | OneFootball

Three Chelsea academy players have continued to train with the first team ahead of Friday’s Premier League clash with Brentford.

The Blues face west London neighbours Brentford at Gtech Community Stadium this week, in what will be the team’s final fixture before the long international break.

There were a few surprise absentees in Chelsea’s training session on Tuesday, including Reece James, Joao Pedro, and Moises Caicedo. On the bright side, Marco Palestra and Jordan Henderson trained with the main group, which could suggest they could be involved on Friday.

Academy stars such as Reggie Watson, Mahdi Nicoll-Jazuli, and Tayo Subuloye also took part in training.

These three were even absent from Chelsea Under-21s’ EFL Trophy group match against Wycombe Wanderers on Tuesday.

Unfortunately, the development side, now rebranded as Cobham Next Gen, suffered a 2-1 defeat to the League One side. Wycombe scored two goals in the second half, before Harrison Bettoni pulled one back very late in the game.

Kendry Paez, who recently returned to Chelsea after his loan at Argentine side River Plate was terminated, came on in the second half and provided the assist for the consolation goal.

The Under-21s side would have likely had a better chance if Watson, Nicoll-Jazuli, and Subuloye had played, but staying in the first-team environment arguably benefits them more.

None of the three have officially been promoted to the first team, but they've all been assigned squad numbers and registered in Chelsea’s Premier League squad.

Alonso has spoken very highly of Watson and Nicoll-Jazuli, in particular. The Chelsea manager said he considers the two 16-year-olds as midfield options for the first team.

Watson made his official senior debut in the 6-3 win over Leeds United in the Carabao Cup last week.

Speaking about Watson’s debut, Alonso said: “He's one of those players that all the coaches like: responsible, very reliable, focused on the game.

“You see that he has a football background from family, so it's a great day for him.

“I mentioned in the team talk that we have all been Reggie Watson one day, and hopefully he will enjoy it.

“My advice to him is that he deserves to be there because of what he has shown, because of his football, because of his mentality during pre-season when he did really well.

“We want to encourage the Academy as well, that they see the players have a chance in the first team.”

Nicoll-Jazuli is still waiting for his opportunity, but he already featured for the first team in the pre-season.

Similarly, Subuloye also took part in the pre-season tour in Australia and Asia. While primarily a centre-back, the 18-year-old is versatile, which may help him earn his official senior debut. The problem is that Chelsea are deeper in defence than in midfield.

It remains unclear whether any of these three will make the squad for the Brentford trip, with only nine spots available on the bench. Even Geovany Quenda, who joined this summer on a deal worth £40 million, is not guaranteed a spot on the bench.