N'Golo Kante has stepped up his return to fitness and has been involved in a Graham Potter training session for the first time ahead of Chelsea's clash with Crystal Palace at the weekend. The French international featured in Chelsea's opening two matches of the season but picked up a hamstring injury against Tottenham and has missed the six games since.
Thomas Tuchel said that Kante would be out for a minimum of four weeks and the 31-year-old's return to first team training has come more that six weeks later. Though the former Leicester star had completed individual sessions in the earlier parts of Potter's tenure.
Kante's appearances comes the day after Chelsea's first team players who were not on international duty, returned to Cobham to begin their training. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Trevoh Chalobah, Edouard Mendy, Kepa Arrizabalaga and Marcus Bettinelli trained along with a number of academy prospects under the watchful eye of Potter.
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It will be welcome news for the Blues as Kante nears his full return ahead of an October where Chelsea have nine matches to play in a month that could set the tone for the season. The France international has only returned to 'part training' however so still has work to do before making his first start under a new head coach.
Former boss Tuchel often refereed to Kante as his 'key player' and comparing his influence to the that of Mo Salah, Kevin De Bruyne, Kylian Mbappe and Virgil van Dijk. The German coach had a degree of frustration with his charge's injury record however.
Tuchel said last season: "This guy who gets man of the match in every Champions League game, he is only here for 40-something per cent of the matches. This is huge for us. We do everything to solve it. Of course, he as well. I don't blame him, it is just a concern and a fact that we miss him a lot because he brings something that is unique in world football, and he has that ability to lift everybody up and make that difference. This is the challenge for him and for us."
With less than 12 months remaining on his deal, Kante will now have to prove his abilities to Potter as club and player decide how best to move forward. Keeping fit during a dense period of fixtures will also be crucial to Kante making the France squad for the upcoming World Cup.
The news of Kante's return follows Mendy appearing on Chelsea's training pitches on Monday after the Senegal international missed Potter's opening match against Red Bull Salzburg and also withdrew from his nation's friendlies with Bolivia and Iran. The Blues goalkeeper has suffered with a knee injury that has required management, though it was not expected to keep him out of action long.
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