Graham Potter believes Chelsea's warm-weather training camp in Abu Dhabi is helping the club's injured players overcome the emotional and psychological disappointment of missing out on the World Cup in Qatar.
A makeshift 25-man Chelsea squad arrived in the Middle East on Monday morning for a week-long camp that will be rounded off with a friendly match against Premier League rivals Aston Villa. And included in the travelling party were six senior players in various stages of their respective recoveries from injury.
Reece James – who would've been included in the England squad for the World Cup were it not for a knee injury – has been reintegrated into first-team training while out in Abu Dhabi and Wesley Fofana (knee) is also closing in on a return after two months out.
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Goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga has stepped up his recovery from plantar fasciitis this week while Ben Chilwell (hamstring) and Ruben Loftus-Cheek (calf) undertake personalised programmes. N'Golo Kante (hamstring) did fly out with the group but isn't expected to be fully fit until late February after undergoing surgery in October.
“There are lots of players at different levels [of their recoveries] and that’s a challenge," admitted Potter in an interview with Chelsea's in-house media. "And at different levels, they’ve had disappointments. Not just their injuries but missing the World Cup and things they’ve had to deal with emotionally and psychologically.
"So I think it was important we got away and reminded them that they’re a really important part of the team – even though they haven’t been able to be on the pitch with us. It's really important to have them around. So we’ve really enjoyed working with them and having them here. I think it’s been important for them.”
With a number of senior stars still away representing their countries at the World Cup, twelve players from the Chelsea Development Squad have joined up with the first-team group. It's an opportunity to impress Potter and his staff, who've had very little chance to assess the talent coming through at Cobham since arriving from Brighton in September.
“It’s been an extreme period. An eight, nine, ten-week period of intense Premier League and Champions League action. This period allows us to get to know people, a chance to get to know people better, players who’ve maybe been outside of our area or work. A few of the younger players are developing relationships with the staff so it’s been so far really positive.
“It gives us a chance to be together all the time and you find out a lot about each other and learn about each other. We’re looking forward to the next stage of our training which is players returning from the World Cup and then we can start to build on what we’ve done here.”
“It’s not quite a pre-season because the rest time has been less but nevertheless it’s a chance to work on the training pitch, a chance to work on ideas, and a chance to develop the team.”
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