'Shouldn't be an issue': Chelsea will have two injured players back to fitness before Premier League is back
Injury expert Ben Dinnery has claimed to GiveMeSport that both Ben Chilwell and Reece James should be fit for Chelsea’s Premier League return.
The Blues are set for a return to domestic football on the 27th of December with a match against Bournemouth at Stamford Bridge.
Before then, they have a friendly organised to take on Aston Villa, despite the World Cup still going on.
This will be a great opportunity for the players not featuring at the World Cup to get some minutes at close to a match intensity.
In truth, the season break came at the best possible time for Graham Potter.
A run of poor form mixed with a hatful of injuries has seen them drop quite a way from the pack at the top of the table.
Two of the players who suffered serious injuries were Chilwell and James.
James and Chilwell expected to be back
In two Champions League games, the pair picked up issues that eventually ruled them out of this winter’s World Cup.
However, Dinnery has claimed Potter can expect the flying wing-back duo to be back when football returns in this country.
He said: “Reece James is progressing. I think both players [James and Chilwell] in reality the World Cup just came a little bit too quickly for them.
“In terms of that Premier League resumption, that shouldn’t be an issue.
“Reece James was in and around six to eight weeks, [he’s] probably towards the latter stages of that recovery rehab period. That injury was picked up in October.”
The pair will surely walk straight back into the starting line-up when back, given how low the standards have dropped since they have been missing.
James in particular has been difficult to replace. Potter has even tried to use the likes of Raheem Sterling and Christian Pulisic in an attempt to replicate his attacking credetnials.
This has clearly not worked, and has limited the output of the attacking pair in the process.
