Thomas Tuchel’s squad looked quite trimmed during their trip to Turf More to face Burnley as a number of key players were missing. But a number of star players were spotted back at the training ground on Monday.
Chelsea club captain Cesar Azpilicueta was pictured back at the training ground Cobham. The right wing-back picked up a knock in the EFL Cup final defeat against Liverpool. Azpilicueta missed the Premier League clash against Burnley last time around. But certainly looks set to return to the starting lineup in the clash against Norwich.
Other absentees, the likes of Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Andreas Christensen were also pictured alongside the Chelsea captain. While left-wing-back Marcos Alonso who missed the last few games due to illness was also spotted back at the training ground and was involved in full first-team training.
While Thomas Tuchel had revealed that English right wing-back Reece James has suffered an injury. The right-back could miss out on the Premier League tie against Norwich at Carrow Road. The right wing-back very recently returned to action after times on the sideline due to a hamstring issue. Talking about Reece James’ injury setback, Tuchel said:
‘Everybody was on the training pitch today except for Ben Chilwell and Reece James, who has some muscular problems after his three games,’
‘He has muscular problems in his other leg, not the previously injured leg, but he will still need some further assessment.
‘He felt it during the match and it didn’t get any better. Today there will be further examinations. It’s obvious what he can give to our team, so it is not good news at the moment.
Ben Chilwell injury update
England international Ben Chilwell was also pictured back out on the grass on Monday. The left wing-back suffered a knee ligament injury during a win over Juventus in November. Chilwell was expected to miss the remainder of the season due to the injury. But the official Twitter account of Chelsea FC posted a picture of the England international back on the training ground captioned:
Upping those fitness levels! 📈
Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel while talking about Ben Chilwell’s injury update said:
‘Chilly was back out on the grass training and I think the one minute he was out on the grass they took a photo of him!’
‘The weather made it possible he could do the exercise outside and it was good to see, but he still has a long way to go.
‘They made him smell the grass and get a bit excited, but nothing close to football or team training. There isn’t any chance he will be back before the end of the season.’
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