Chelsea head coach Graham Potter has provided an update on the injured Reece James and Wesley Fofana as the defensive duo near their return.
James picked up a knee injury in October's Champions League victory over AC Milan and the problem ruled him out of England's World Cup campaign. The 22-year-old, however, has been reintroduced to light training this week as Chelsea continue to prepare for their Premier League comeback with a warm weather training camp in Abu Dhabi.
Another man who has been pictured on the grass doing some work this week is Fofana. The French defender also picked up an injury against Milan, but in the home game, and was ruled out for a lengthy period.
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Potter has provided an update on the defenders and confirmed they are both doing some work on the pitch but are not quite in full training just yet. The Blues head coach also said Fofana is a bit behind his teammate James.
Potter told the club website: "Reece is not quite fully training but he's integrating into training along with Wesley. Wesley is a little bit further behind but not too far."
The Chelsea boss also spoke about Ben Chilwell, who suffered an injury at home to Dinamo Zagreb in the final Champions League group game. Chilwell, like James, was also ruled out of the World Cup with England.
N'Golo Kante is another one on the sidelines Chelsea are looking to get back as soon as possible. The France international has been missing since August with a hamstring injury which is expected to keep him out until the New Year at least.
"Ben has come back from his individual work in Dubai and he's now working closer with the guys but still not team training," Potter added. "N'Golo is a little bit further away but again he's progressing well.
"Kepa is not quite with the team yet but has stepped up his rehab. Ruben is doing some work in the gym so we’re hopeful that he can be involved next week but we’ll see how he goes. There are lots of players at different levels and that’s the challenge but we’re making progress so that’s the positive."
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