Chelsea set to exploit unusual Carabao Cup loophole to allow banned star to play vs Brighton

Chelsea look set to exploit an unusual loophole ahead of their Carabao Cup clash against Brighton on Wednesday evening.

The Blues host Roberto De Zerbi's side at Stamford Bridge in a bid to turn around their dismal early-season form, which has seen them slip to 14th-place in the Premier League table.

Brighton, meanwhile, sit third in the table and will be keen to take advantage of a vulnerable Chelsea side who haven't scored a goal all month.

However, to help boost their chances in front of goal, Nicolas Jackson is expected to be involved despite picking up a one-game suspension after receiving his fifth yellow of the season against Aston Villa last time out.

That is because yellow card bans don't carry over to the Carabao Cup, meaning the Senegal international can be named in Mauricio Pochettino's lineup.

On the other hand, red card bans remain applicable. Therefore, Malo Gusto will be unavailable for the contest after being shown his marching orders for a horror tackle on Lucas Digne on the weekend.

But Jackson's availability could be crucial, with summer signing Christopher Nkunku still sidelined with a serious knee injury.

Speaking after Chelsea's 1-0 defeat to Aston Villa on the weekend, Pochettino admitted he was "disappointed" that two of his players picked up unnecessary bans.

"We were talking, we need to grow up like a team, not only in an individual way," the Italian said.

"I think players like Nico who are so young and feeling the Premier League and is learning, they need time.

"In this type of game, we are competing and want to win and football is about winning but also players, when they are young, need to learn, and experience and make mistakes.

"That's why we feel disappointed as there are too many situations like this and I agree with you too many things like this and in the end we are losing the game and we are in situation we need to change as soon as possible."

SPORTbible are on WhatsApp! We've launched a dedicated news channel to send you the latest news, features and plenty more directly on WhatsApp and all you need to do to sign up is click through to our one-way broadcast channel here HERE for 'SPORTbible News' to appear in the 'Updates' tab on your WhatsApp.