Potter confirms four Chelsea players who could return vs Southampton

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Chelsea manager Graham Potter has confirmed that four players may make injury returns in Saturday’s clash against Southampton.

There are several players who have returned to training following injury absences in the past week at Chelsea.

The likes of Mateo Kovacic, Wesley Fofana, and Denis Zakaria made the bench in Wednesday’s defeat to Borussia Dortmund, but Kalidou Koulbaly was the only player making a return in that game.

Potter might have been cautious about deploying these players in a high-intensity game since these three had been out for quite a while.

However, Potter said that these three, alongside Raheem Sterling, are in contention to play this weekend.

“We’ve got a few in terms of players returning from injuries,” the manager told Chelsea TV ahead of the Southampton game.

“Mateo, Wesley, Denis Zakaria, Raheem Sterling — that’s the balance we have at the moment.

“We’ve [also] got some guys who have played and [built up] their minutes in the Premier League and in the Champions League.

“The club and the staff, we have to make the right calls there, the right decisions. We’ve got a few options, we have to make sure we manage it correctly.”

Sterling was left out against Dortmund due to a minor knee injury, so his quick recovery is expected news.

That said, Potter will now face an even more difficult task of making team selections following these returns.

Mykhailo Mudryk was the obvious option for the left winger position, but now that Sterling is available, one of them will likely have to sit on the bench.

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