Chelsea manager Graham Potter says Reece James is “in a good place” as the right-back prepares to make his return after nearly three months out injured.
James has been sidelined since suffering a knee ligament injury in October but he is available to make his comeback when Chelsea get back to Premier League action against Bournemouth.
His return is a major boost for Chelsea and Potter has backed the 23-year-old, who missed the World Cup, to shine once he gets back into the swing.
“Reece has been training a few weeks now and that obviously helps,” said Potter ahead of the Bournemouth game, when Chelsea will seek to end a run of three straight defeats before the mid-season break.
“I have to say he is in a good mood, he is in a good place.
“The tough time is when you can’t play football because you’re injured, and obviously if there is a World Cup going on it is a reminder even more so of what you are missing.
“So for him the best thing is he is playing football, the World Cup has finished now, and he can just concentrate on playing.
“I thought he was in a really good place before he got injured. If you look at how the team has functioned before he got injured and afterwards, it is not the only reason of course, but Reece is a top, top player.
“And when he’s not with us it is a miss, so the plan now is to try to help him play his minutes. The next challenge for us is building him up in the Premier League, which is not the ideal place to do that.
“But he has got the capacity to do it, we have just got to be clear and careful with the minutes he plays. I am confident that the more football he plays we will see what a fantastic player he really is.”
