By Nathaniel Kay

'Love that': Some Chelsea fans thrilled by player they've spotted in training ahead of Malmo tie

Chelsea supporters on social media were over the moon after seeing Antonio Rudiger back in training on the eve of the Malmo match tomorrow.

Rudiger sat out Saturday’s narrow Premier League victory against Brentford due to a back problem sustained on international duty.

The Blues certainly missed their giant German last weekend, as they relied on Edouard Mendy to keep them out of trouble.

It appears the defender will be available for the upcoming Champions League clash with Malmo, a fixture surrounded by added pressure following Chelsea’s previous European result.

Thomas Tuchel will undoubtedly want to redeploy Rudiger immediately, permitted he is fit and functioning.

Even if the centre-half isn’t selected to face the Swedish side, Blues fans were just encouraged to know their bearded chief was back with the group.

Here’s how they reacted on Twitter:

Rudiger-less

A Chelsea team without Rudiger is certainly a weakened one.

Since Tuchel took over from Frank Lampard in January, the centre-back has only been absent for seven club matches.

Amongst those seven outings is the 5-2 loss to West Bromwich Albion and the 1-0 defeat at the hands of Arsenal.

Add to that the Carabao Cup penalty shoot-out win over Aston Villa, plus the close 1-0 triumph over Brentford, the correlation becomes obvious.

No Rudiger, no party.

Blues backed-up

Luckily for Chelsea, they have quality in reserve many managers would give an arm and a leg to wield.

Thiago Silva is set to play a part on Wednesday, after sitting out the previous contest.

Reece James will also be up for selection, following his return from injury.

Add to that the able debutants of Trevoh Chalobah and now Malang Sarr, Tuchel’s defence can probably just about cope without Rudiger.

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Nathaniel Kay

Nathaniel is a football journalist who graduated from the University of Derby. He has worked at Burton Albion as part of their media team for two years. Nathaniel produces regular articles for the club’s official website and match-day programme. He covered the 2018 U20 Women’s World Cup in Brittany and has reported from grounds ranging from non-league up to the Premier League.