Roma could welcome back defender Kostas Manolas for Chelsea Champions League visit

AS Roma will make a late decision on the fitness of Kostas Manolas and Gregoire Defrel ahead of Tuesday night's (31 October) Halloween meeting with Chelsea, while Patrik Schick has been ruled out of the Champions League C tie through injury.

Highly-rated centre-back Manolas missed the thrilling 3-3 draw at Stamford Bridge a fortnight ago and has been sidelined since suffering a grade one thigh muscle strain during the Giallorossi's 1-0 Serie A defeat to Napoli on 14 October.

Sassuolo loanee Defrel also missed the first match against Chelsea with a thigh tear sustained against FK Qarabag in late September, although made his return as a substitute in the narrow Serie A win over Crotone in midweek.

The French forward then started Saturday's defeat of Bologna, but was replaced in the 59th minute by Diego Perotti after picking up an ankle issue.

Addressing Manolas and Defrel's availability for the visit of defending Premier League champions Chelsea, head coach Eusebio Di Francesco told reporters at his pre-match press conference: "With both Defrel and Kostas Manolas, they will train today and afterwards I will make my assessment on whether they are able to be in the squad or not."

Czech forward Schick has made just one competitive appearance to date for Roma since arriving from domestic rivals Sampdoria in a record deal in August, replacing Chelsea target Radja Nainggolan for the final 15 minutes of a 3-0 win over Hellas Verona last month.

A minor heart problem caused the collapse of a proposed move to reigning Italian champions Juventus and the 21-year-old was later diagnosed with fluid build-up in his left thigh.

Shick has been confined to the bench for each of Roma's last three games against Torino, Crotone and Bologna and could now miss Sunday's trip to Fiorentina in addition to the clash with Chelsea.

"He has been reporting some pain when he kicks the ball, so he had new tests which did not show any major problem", Di Francesco added. "But we are evaluating that and studying it carefully, he is working on a personal program to resolve the issue.

"Either way, tomorrow he will not be included in the squad list, and we will assess for the next game against Fiorentina."

In addition to Shick, right-back Bruno Peres will play no part against Chelsea after being diagnosed with a muscular tear in his right thigh. Left-back Emerson Palmieri is not yet fully fit, while Rick Karsdorp ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament in the second half of his Roma debut against Crotone.

The Dutch international had already been sidelined for three-and-a-half months after undergoing knee surgery just days after joining the club from Feyenoord.

Di Francesco would not confirm any further selection plans for Chelsea other than that Nainggolan would definitely start after being rested and was asked if he expected Antonio Conte to field an extra midfielder with N'Golo Kante expected to return from a hamstring issue at the Stadio Olimpico.

"David Luiz played as a midfielder in that game in a 5-3-2 - he has a different profile, of course, but he still played in that position," he said. "Watching their latest games I expect him to play with two support strikers.

"However, we are preparing for the game as we did in the first leg as we knew there was the possibility to play with this formation from the very start of the match. Something that might change it is that N'Golo Kante is back – he is a very important player for Chelsea."