Chelsea's preparations on the training pitch are well underway ahead of the Blues' Premier League clash with Brentford on Wednesday night. Having had a day off last Wednesday, Frank Lampard has finally been provided with some time to see his stars on the training pitch before facing the Bees, with no fixture to play over the weekend.
Manchester United's involvement in the FA Cup has provided the west London side with the opportunity to improve in the areas Lampard has designated. The Premier League match has now been moved until the penultimate game of the season.
In footage released for the club, the Blues boss can be seen working through match simulations at greater pace than he has been liable to do so far, given a testing schedule of four matches in less than two weeks following the 44-year-old's appointment.
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Gabriel Slonina's save
Since arriving at the club in January, Gabriel Slonina has put in some impressive performances for Chelsea's development squad and been involved periodically with the first team, being no stranger to being the Blues' extra man on a matchday and being part of the goalkeepers' warm up.
If he hadn't astounded already, he will now have managed to in first team training over the last week with some very accompolished saves. Having stopped an effort from distance which echoed off of his gloves, the former Chicago Fire star managed to get back in place to dive across and block the rebound from OmarI Hutchinson. Perhaps best of all was the roar that the American released having completed the double-save. He certainly enjoyed it.
Scoring goals and Cesar Azpilicueta's commitment
Both Lampard and Graham Potter have noted that goalscoring doesn't appear to be a problem in training for the Blues and that seems to be the case from recent footage. Raheem Sterling, David Datro Fofana, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Christian Pulisic could all be seen finishing impressively or showing decent composure when required.
However, while it may be suggested that Chelsea have little to play for having been thwarted in their Champions League campaign by Real Madrid, there appears to be commitment on the training pitch still. Club captain Cesar Azpilicueta isn't letting the standard slip and showed as much as he went scambling across the goalline to keep out an effort from Sterling, and found himself buried in the net as a result. It certainly got his teammates pumped up, however.
In and out
Kalidou Koulibaly was not in the most recent drop of images from the club as he continues to recover from the hamstring injury he picked up at the Bernabeu. Edouard Mendy has maintained his involvment despite Lampard revealing that he was carrying an issue earlier this month.
It appears that Reece James' inclusion in training may be being managed after he played on against Real Madrid having appeared to be carrying an issue in the first half, having not been spotted in the club's release.
Elsewhere, Lewis Hall joined Slonina and Hutchinson among the sessions despite the size of Chelsea's first team squad. The trio seemed to play a substantial role among some intense drills.
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