A combination of Covid, injuries and the fact it was the Carabao Cup offered a brilliant opportunity for some of Chelsea's latest crop of academy graduates on Wednesday night.
Thomas Tuchel handed debuts to youngsters Xavier Simons, Harvey Vale and Jude Soonsup-Bell in the quarter-final win at Brentford.
That means Chelsea have fielded 50 graduates of their Cobham academy since Roman Abramovich took ownership of the club back in 2003.
This trio will be hoping to carve out a successful Stamford Bridge career, following in the footsteps of Mason Mount, Reece James, Callum Hudson-odoi and Andreas Christensen in treading the path to the first team.