Graham Potter's Chelsea team might not have benefitted from the international break as a fresh set of injuries come about for the under-fire boss. Despite halting the run of games without a win, ending the period before the international break with a 2-2 draw to Everton did little to settle fans down.
Having finally started to put a set of games together that resembled what Potter's Chelsea were all about, the positivity has been cut short with fears over the squad still. Although not as bad as the plague of setbacks, knocks and sidelined players, Potter is currently far from full strength.
He welcomed back N'Golo Kante to the matchday squad before the break but also saw three of his stars pull out of duty for their country as well. With the first of two crucial Champions League ties against Real Madrid on the horizon Potter will be keen to wrap his key players up in cotton wool.
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Kante himself wasn't called up having not played competitively since August. The 31 year-old did feature in a friendly at Cobham against Charlton last week but will be managed carefully due to the consistent setbacks for him across the past three years.
He was joined at Cobham by Mason Mount, Raheem Sterling and Wesley Fofana, all of whom didn't make it to international camps. Sterling, who has been missing since the win against Borussia Dortmund, was left out of Gareth Southgate's England squad due to injury.
"Raheem has a problem with his hamstring. It's not too serious but he'll miss the game at the weekend and the international trip," Potter explained before the break. As for Mount, he was initially picked by Southgate only to be withdrawn shortly after with the Blues boss addressing the confusion. "He's never been available as far as I am aware," Potter said.
"He needed a bit of time for his injury to settle down which has pretty much ruled him out of England. Whether that meant they needed a bit of time to double-check that, I don't know.
"I don’t think there is anything untoward at all. It's more that sometimes with these things he can be named and yet there's still a couple of days where things can be changed. But from my selection perspective he wasn't available for the weekend." Mount hasn't played for Chelsea since coming on as a substitute against Tottenham in early February.
Fofana, on the other hand, was dealt a massive blow having been called up by Didier Deschamps for France. A tweak in the second half of the draw at Stamford Bridge meant he had withdraw too. "Wes Fofana had to come off with fatigue, as he has had a long time out. He was feeling his hamstring," explained Potter.
In defence alongside him Cesar Azpilicueta has been out with concussion and then was injured in training, leaving him out too. Thiago Silva will hope to be back in the coming weeks too after being out following knee damage against Tottenham. The Brazilian was ruled out for around six weeks after the game on February 26, leaving his return in early April, around the time of the Madrid ties.
There have been two fresh worries for Potter to think about as well. Kai Havertz left the Germany camp with illness. The forward has scored in three games in a row for his club, finding some of his best form of the season with Joao Felix near him. He played in the 2-0 win for Hansi Flick's side against Peru last week.
He isn't the only one to have to cut the break short either with Reece James not playing any part of England's second game against Ukraine after returning to Cobham. A statement from the club said: "Reece James has withdrawn from the England squad and will not feature against Ukraine on Sunday. The full-back has returned to Chelsea for an assessment on an ongoing issue.
"No replacements are planned." Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Armando Broja are also out with the latter not set to return until next season. Edouard Mendy is back in training after fracturing his finger but hasn't yet made an appearance in the squad.
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