Chelsea are looking precariously short of central defensive options as they prepare to face Eintracht Frankfurt on Thursday evening.
Maurizio Sarri's side head to the Commerzbank-Arena for the first leg of their Europa League semi-final tie with David Luiz and Andreas Christensen as their only fit and available senior centre-backs.
Antonio Rudiger stands to miss at least three months with the meniscus injury he suffered in the 1-1 Premier League draw with Manchester United at the weekend, with the German international undergoing knee surgery on Tuesday.
Gary Cahill is now suffering with an Achilles tendon problem and Ethan Ampadu still has a back issue, meaning that full-back Cesar Azpilicueta has spent time training as a makeshift central option - a position he played originally under Antonio Conte at Stamford Bridge.
Willian is in contention after a knock that forced him off at Old Trafford, but Callum Hudson-Odoi is sidelined with a ruptured Achilles.
Christensen and Emerson are expected to replace Rudiger and Marcos Alonso in defence in Frankfurt, while Mateo Kovacic should make way for Ruben Loftus-Cheek.
Pedro and Olivier Giroud should return to form part of a front three alongside Eden Hazard, with Gonzalo Higuain's loan spell from Juventus proving to be a considerable disappointment thus far.
For the hosts, Croatian forward Ante Rebic is suspended, while Sebastien Haller (stomach), Marc Stendera (back) and Taleb Tawatha (ankle) are all out injured.
Predicted line-ups:
Eintracht Frankfurt XI (3-4-1-2): Trapp, Hinteregger, Hasebe, Falette, Da Costa, Fernandes, Rode, Kostic, Gacinovic, Paciencia, Jovic
Chelsea XI (4-3-3): Kepa, Azpilicueta, Christensen, Luiz, Emerson, Jorginho, Kante, Loftus-Cheek, Pedro, Hazard, Giroud
