Chelsea coach Enzo Maresca says it is “not normal” for a player to make the 16-hour return journey to Kazakhstan for Thursday’s Conference League game and then play against Brentford on Sunday evening.

The Blues face an eight-hour flight for the 3,700-mile (6,000 km) journey to Almaty in the south of the country, where they will face Astana for renovations to their home stadium in the Kazakh capital, 600 miles away.

Chelsea will land back in London on Friday morning before preparing to face Brentford in the Premier League on Sunday at 7pm GMT. The Blues are currently in second place, four points behind Liverpool.

“Eight hours (one way) is not a normal travel time for a game, but we have to go there, we have to play and we want to try to do our best while also thinking about the next game,” he told Maresca, whose team is with Four out of four wins are at the top of the Conference League.

Chelsea must expect an extended flight time as the plane has to take an indirect route from the conflict areas in Ukraine, Russia and Syria.

Temperatures are also forecast to reach -11C, while the Premier League team will observe Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), five hours ahead of GMT, during their 18-hour stay in the Central Asian country.

The Italian confirmed that a number of first-team players will be rested for the trip, including England winger Noni Madueke, while Portuguese winger Pedro Neto is suspended for Sunday’s game against Brentford.

Young players Ato Ampah, Shumaira Mheuka, Harrison McMahon, Kaiden Wilson, Richard Olise (brother of Bayern Munich winger Michael) and Harrison Murray-Campbell are in the traveling squad.

Young defender Josh Acheampong is “likely to start on Thursday” and the 18-year-old academy graduate is close to signing a new contract.

Star striker Cole Palmer, injured duo Romeo Lavia and Wesley Fofana and exiled Ben Chilwell were not registered for UEFA’s third division competition.

“Those who are not there tomorrow will first of all train and they must train well,” added 44-year-old Italian Maresca.

“You never know if we might need one of the guys playing on Sunday tomorrow. Ideally not. We’re going to land at 6 a.m. on Friday, and it’s not normal for either of them to land at 6 a.m. on Friday to play again on Sunday.

“But if we need it, they’ll make the effort.”

When asked about the cold, confirmed starter Axel Disasi said: “We just have to put on two pairs of gloves and be ready to compete in these conditions.”

“We all know the conditions of these games, it’s an eight hour flight and minus 11, so download some movies to watch on the plane, be ready to fight and keep first place.”

The Premier League has allowed Chelsea a late kick-off time on Sunday due to travel, so the game against Brentford will kick off at 7pm GMT.