Chelsea boss Antonio Conte is keen for new signing Emerson Palmieri to push Marcos Alonso hard for a first-team place.
Alonso has been excellent so far this season but has not faced much competition for his place – something Conte wanted to change by bringing in another left-sided option.
And he is hoping Palmieri can make an impact following his recent move from Roma.
Speaking at a press conference, Conte said: “He played very well for Roma last season and then he had a bad injury.
“Now he stays with us and for sure he is an option to Marcos Alonso and I think it’s good for us.
“Who deserves, plays. This is our view in the changing room.
“If a player deserves to play it’s important for me to look at what happened during training sessions and the game.”
Palmieri is unlikely to be involved in Monday’s game at Watford and Olivier Giroud is short of match fitness so is unlikely to start.
“We have to wait because don’t forget that especially for Palmieri we are talking about a player who is coming back from a bad injury,” Conte said.
“We have to make the best decision to bring these two players in the best physical condition and then to work with them.”