Head coach Graham Potter has revealed that N'Golo Kante will remain sidelined for Chelsea's Premier League fixture at Crystal Palace on Saturday afternoon.
Kante has been absent from the first-team picture since sustaining a hamstring injury against Tottenham Hotspur on August 14.
At the time, it was suggested that the World Cup winner would miss at least a month of action, keeping him out of contention until after the international break.
The Frenchman, who did not represent his country over the course of the last week, has been back on the training pitch since the beginning of the week.
Nevertheless, Potter has indicated that he will take no risks on one of the club's key players until Wednesday's Champions League fixture with AC Milan.
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At his pre-match press conference, Potter was also quizzed on the availability of goalkeeper Edouard Mendy, who has missed the last two games with a knee injury.
The Englishman gave a similar prognosis to Kante, as well as revealing that Marc Cucurella is expected to miss the match.
Potter said: "They're fine in terms of coming through the rehab stages and NG has been on the grass. Maybe next week for him. Bit of illness for Marc Cucurella."
Kepa Arrizabalaga will keep his spot ahead of Mendy and will hope to build on his solid outings against Dinamo Zagreb and Red Bull Salzburg.
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The absence of Cucurella would theoretically strengthen the chances of wing-back Ben Chilwell making just his third start of the season.
However, Potter opted to use Raheem Sterling in that position against Salzburg, with Cucurella being deployed on the left-hand side of a back three.
Wesley Fofana and Kalidou Koulibaly also started that contest among the replacements and will hope to earn a recall for the meeting with the Eagles.
Saturday's London derby starts a run of 13 matches during a period up until November 12 before club action is halted for the World Cup.
Darren Plant
