Chelsea are confident that Ben Chilwell, Wesley Fofana and Reece James will be ready to return to action after the World Cup in Qatar.
The injured defenders are aiming to be back to face Bournemouth on December 27 when the club resumes its matches in the Premier League.
Chilwell will avoid surgery after his hamstring tear and is confident about his recovery despite not being given a timeline to return by Chelsea’s medical staff.
The 25-year-old was injured in the 2-1 home win over Dinamo Zagreb in the Champions League, ending his hopes of making Gareth Southgate's squad. Fofana and James are progressing well from their knee injuries and will continue their rehabilitation programmes alongside Chilwell.
Manager Graham Potter is without a host of players for the match against high-flying Newcastle at St James's Park tomorrow as his side attempt to end a rotten run of form in the last game before the World Cup.
With only two points from their past four Premier League games – including the chastening defeat against Arsenal last weekend – the Chelsea boss needs a positive result this weekend to ease the disquiet building amongst fans.
Doubts over the fitness ofJorginho and Carney Chukwuemeka will not help, taking Potter’s injury list to a possible seven, with N’Golo Kante and Kepa Arrizabalaga also on the sidelines.
After this weekend, Chelsea's unselected World Cup stars will initially get time to go on holiday. There will then be a warm-weather training camp in Abu Dhabi and a possible friendly match for those not at the World Cup.
It will include the returning injured players and those who haven't made the cut, including Pierre Emerick Aubameyang, Jorginho, Trevoh Chalobah, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Armando Broja alongside a host of youth talent such as Lewis Hall and Omari Hutchinson.
Kepa’s status is unclear after making Spain's provisional squad but is managing a plantar fasciitis injury in his foot. N’Golo Kante needs more than three more months to recover after surgery on his hamstring.
