Chelsea handed huge Estevao Willian boost as Enzo Maresca ponders options for Nottingham Forest

Estevao Willian played around 17 minutes - including stoppage time - for Brazil as they threw away a two-goal lead against Japan on Tuesday afternoon. The Chelsea winger started, and scored twice, as Carlo Ancelotti's men defeated South Korea last week, but was used from the bench in Tokyo.

This comes as a big boost for Chelsea and Enzo Maresca, who will be hoping to use Estevao on Saturday afternoon as the Blues travel to Nottingham Forest in the Premier League. Not only this, but with Brazil playing on Tuesday, it gives the 18-year-old winger a bit more time than usual after returning home from an international break.

Estevao is due to begin his trip back to the UK in the next hours following the defeat in Japan. Brazil's defeat came in the Ajinomoto Stadiumf in Chōfu and from there, a non-stop flight to London can take between 14 and 15 hours, meaning Estevao should be back in the capital on Wednesday.

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Maresca will be hoping to have Estevao back training in Cobham for Thursday's session. This will give him two sessions before the trip to Nottingham at the weekend as the head coach considers his options following another gruelling international break.

Fortunately for the Blues, Andrey Santos and Joao Pedro were both not called up for Brazil's two friendlies during this break, so the duo have had the chance to work closely with the Chelsea coaching staff while some of their teammates have been elsewhere around the world.

There had been reports in recent days that Estevao had been struggling with an illness but he trained as normal on Monday and was given minutes on Tuesday, so the teenager appears to be fine. Either way, it will be one Maresca will keep an eye on when Estevao returns to the country ahead of the weekend's match.

The Chelsea head coach will be without Cole Palmer, who is set to be missing for the remainder of the month as he continues his recovery from a groin injury. The 23-year-old has been struggling with the same problem since the start of the season and the club are targeting a November return for the England international, football.london understands.

We await to hear more on the Enzo Fernandez injury that saw the Chelsea midfielder withdraw from the Argentina squad over the weekend. Reece James' injury, meanwhile, is not thought to be serious after the Blues captain pulled out of the England squad last week.

James felt some pain in the win against Liverpool before the international break and informed the club's medical department post-match. Due to the 25-year-old's injury-riddled past, the decision to withdraw him is seen as more precautionary than anything else, with his latest problem set to only keep him out in the short term.