Reports have claimed that Chelsea midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek hasn’t trained since the Blues returned to Cobham last week.
According to Football London, the 26-year-old has not been involved with the squad since the 1-0 defeat to Newcastle in the final domestic game before the Premier League was put on pause for the World Cup.
That fixture was hardly a showing to remember for Loftus-Cheek especially. He was taken off the pitch inside the last five minutes due to his injury.
It turned out no better for Graham Potter either, who saw his side fall to yet another defeat.
The new man in charge has often looked to Loftus-Cheek to play, even in times when he was not at 100%.
Potter admitted in an interview after a game that the England international was one of a number of players that were involved in the squad despite not being fully fit.
Loftus-Cheek sidelined
This seems to have eventually resulted in disastrous consequences, with Football London saying he will not return to training before the friendly against Aston Villa.
Loftus-Cheek has travelled with the first team squad to the warm weather training camp in Abu Dhabi. However, considering N’golo Kante has travelled despite being nowhere near fully fit.
There is more positive injury news surrounding defenders Reece James and Wesley Fofana.
Both of them missing through knee injuries for a number of weeks leading up to the World Cup, both have made their returns to training during the warm weather camp.
James in particular has been a huge loss to Chelsea since the issue suffered at the San Siro earlier this season.
Potter has at times looked to Loftus-Cheek in order to try and fill the void. With it not always working, he has claimed he feels far more comfortable playing in midfield.
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