Chelsea will finish the season hoping to stay in the European qualification places as they visit Sunderland on Sunday afternoon.
The Premier League will draw to a close with a complete round of 4pm kick-offs, and Chelsea are one of just a handful of teams with meaningful places to play for.
If they better Brighton's result, then the incoming Xabi Alonso will take them into the Europa League next season. If they stay eighth, they're probably looking at the Europa League. And if they lose, they will definitely miss out altogether - possibly at Sunderland's expense.
Joao Pedro injury latest ahead of Sunderland vs Chelsea
That means Calum McFarlane will no doubt be keen to be able to field his best possible XI at the Stadium of Light - and Joao Pedro would figure into that.
The Brazilian has had some injury problems recently, though, and missed Chelsea's last Premier League game against Tottenham.
However, McFarlane had indicated that Pedro was omitted from that game partly due to the quick turnaround from starting in the FA Cup final a few days earlier, having only just returned from injury a couple of weeks prior.
The centre-forward started at Wembley and played 86 minutes of their defeat to Manchester City and was left out of the victory over Spurs largely as a precaution with a minor issue.
McFarlane said on Wednesday: "Joao Pedro had a slight knock.
"It’s nothing that we're massively concerned about but, again, with the quick turnaround from City, it just wasn't worth risking Joao Pedro in that moment."
Pedro is hoped to be back in contention to play a part against Sunderland alongside Levi Colwill and Reece James, who likewise started the cup final but didn't feature against Tottenham.
McFarlane indicated that the trio would be assessed in training to see if they can be involved on Sunday.
He explained: "It's definitely a wait and see.
"We've got a little bit of time from now until then, so we're hopeful, but we won't know that until we see how the next couple of days unfold."
