Chelsea have received a major fitness boost with the return of N’Golo Kante to full training.
The club confirmed the step-up in the Frenchman’s recovery from a hamstring injury that has kept him out for over a month.
Kante, 31, was forced off late on in Chelsea’s draw with Tottenham on August 14.
Four Premier League and a pair of Champions League games have passed since and his absence has been limited slightly by the postponements of games against Fulham and Liverpool following the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
The Blues are now expecting to have a full complement of players available for Saturday’s London derby with Crystal Palace as Edouard Mendy also returns this week following knee trouble.
Chelsea confirmed Kepa Arrizabalaga, Edouard Mendy, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Trevoh Chalobah and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang also took part in Tuesday’s session under Graham Potter at Cobham.
Goalkeeper Mendy had been suffering from a knee injury as he sat out Senegal’s matches over the international period. Standard Sport reported this morning that he was nearing a return after Kepa stepped in against RB Salzburg.
Elsewhere, Christian Pulisic will start for United States tonight as he shakes off a knock that ruled him out of Friday’s friendly against Japan.
Potter has still only had one match in charge at Stamford Bridge despite being in his post for over a fortnight.
His side have played two friendlies in that time beating Brighton 2-1 at a behind-closed-doors friendly at the Amex Stadium where he used to coach. The Blues then lost 4-2 to Portsmouth with a mostly youth team put out against the EFL side.
Crystal Palace await Chelsea in a 3pm kick-off on Saturday before a double-header with AC Milan in the Champions League, either side of a home game against Wolves.
