Guus Hiddink has become the latest manager to criticise the scheduling of the FA Cup after Chelsea's injury concerns worsened in Saturday's 2-1 Premier League victory at Southampton.
Pedro was substituted in the sixth minute after suffering a hamstring injury, joining Kurt Zouma, Radamel Falcao, Alexandre Pato and potentially John Terry in remaining unavailable for part of or all of a defining point in Chelsea's season.
The Blues impressed with their resilience on Saturday, after second-half goals from Cesc Fabregas and Branislav Ivanovic -- the latter an 89th-minute header -- cancelled out Shane Long's fine first-half finish and extended Hiddink's unbeaten run to 13 domestic games.
They this week face Norwich and Stoke in the Premier League before the second leg of their round of 16 Champions League tie with Paris Saint-Germain and an FA Cup quarterfinal against Everton on Saturday, March 12.
But given they were originally scheduled to face Liverpool on March 13, Hiddink is unhappy the Everton fixture has been arranged for 24 hours earlier.
"[Pedro] got a problem with his hamstring," said Hiddink. "We'll see [what his diagnosis is].
"We have a tight schedule, Norwich on Tuesday and then Stoke and PSG. Then, surprisingly, the Everton game was put on a Saturday instead of a Sunday.
"Normally we should have played Liverpool on the Sunday. I don't know who has decided that, all of a sudden, the Liverpool... It was astonishing that people could change the kick-off time.
"We have PSG on Wednesday night. Hopefully it doesn't go into extra time. The players, not just Chelsea players, need time when the intensity of the league is like this.
"The medical people at the FA and the Premier League should make this known as well. We have to protect the players.
"Every club and the FA have medical departments. The doctors should stand up and say: 'FA, television, whoever.... hey.' It's five games away, so there's time, but I'm frustrated by that."