Chelsea have been handed a timely triple injury boost ahead of their Champions League showdown with AC Milan.
The Blues entertain Serie A's current title-holders at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday evening, looking to get their Group E campaign up and running under new boss Graham Potter.
Chelsea currently sit at the foot of the table with only one point to their name so far after Potter’s first match in charge ended in a frustrating 1-1 home draw with RB Salzburg last month, a game preceded by an abysmal 1-0 defeat by Dinamo Zagreb that abruptly signalled the end of Thomas Tuchel’s managerial tenure.
Potter’s side trained at Cobham on Tuesday in advance of a fixture that will see Milan defender Fikayo Tomori go up against his former club, with N’Golo Kante, Marc Cucurella and Edouard Mendy all back in action.
All three players missed Saturday’s narrow win at Crystal Palace secured by a last-gasp Conor Gallagher strike against his former loan club in what was Potter’s first Premier League match in charge since swapping Brighton for west London in September.
Kante is in the final stages of rehabbing a hamstring injury that has kept him sidelined ever since the fiery derby draw with Tottenham in mid-August, but had not been back in full training prior to the trip to Selhurst Park, per Potter.
Cucurella looks to have shaken off the bout of illness that ruled him and fellow summer signing Carney Chukwuemeka out against Palace, while first-choice goalkeeper Mendy must surely be nearing a return after building up his fitness in the aftermath of a knee issue that has seen deputy Kepa Arrizabalaga deputise between the posts in Chelsea’s last three matches.
It is unclear at this stage if all of Kante, Cucurella and Mendy will be available to start against Milan, though their presence in training on Tuesday can only be a positive sign.
Potter is sure to offer an update on all of Chelsea’s latest team news when he addresses reporters in his pre-match press conference at 3pm BST this afternoon.
