It was a difficult game away to Brentford at the Brentford Community Stadium.

Chelsea manager Graham Potter rotated his squad yet again for this fixture.

According to Potter, it is impossible for him not to rotate the squad due to the amount of games the team has to play.

Explaining his line-up, Potter told Amazon Prime before kick-off: “It is about picking the team that we think can be competitive in the game tonight.

“I can’t think of anything else other than that. The schedule we have we cannot escape from.

“But we have a huge respect for Thomas [Frank], for Brentford for the record they have here so we have to pick a team that we think is going to be competitive and try to win.”

Denis Zakaria was named among the Chelsea substitutes, and the midfielder is still waiting for his first Chelsea appearance.

Zakaria didn’t end up coming on, and there are reports that he may leave in January.

Potter however has insisted Zakaria remains an ‘important member’ of his squad and says the 25-year-old is ‘ready to help the team’ in the coming weeks.

Asked if there had been any talks about letting Zakaria leave in January, Potter said on Tuesday: “There has been no decision made at all on that. Denis has been in the group and he’s been training well.

“He’s ready to help the team but obviously there’s competition for places in that area. There’s no talks [about leaving].

“He’s an important member of the team. He’s being patient and trying to help the team from the side at the moment. He’s waiting for a chance.”