The Blues’s return from their Europa League win in Greece was delayed by a cancelled flight back to the United Kingdom on Thursday night.
The Blues were forced to remain in the country due to poor weather, with the team due to arrive back in London on Friday mid-afternoon, just 48 hours before their Sunday clash at Manuel Pellegrini’s West Ham in the Premier League.
Chelsea got their Group L campaign off to an excellent start with a 1-0 victory over PAOK in Thessaloniki, but head coach Maurizio Sarri has urged his team to “kill” the match when they have the chance.
The Italian said, “We were in control of the match for 90 minutes,” he said. “We have had a lot of opportunities. We missed several.
“So I am really very happy with the three points, very happy with the performance, but I am not very happy with the result. When it is time to kill the match we have to kill the match.”
Chelsea supporters were urged by the club not to travel to the game, but a small collection of Blues celebrated the win, after two of their fellow fans were injured in an attack by rival fans on the eve of the match.