Chelsea were once again training at Cobham on Wednesday as they looked to work past the 2-0 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur and begin to focus on facing Leeds United at Stamford Bridge. The Blues welcome their fierce rivals to west London in search of their first win in seven games.
While Potter was quick to use a week between matches to help his side to enjoy some rest to manage their fitness last week, there is sure to be an intent to continue to work through issues ahead of Chelsea's Premier League and Champions League double-header.
The 47-year-old head coach will have his work cut out to find some momentum from his squad and will be pleased to have had some welcome boosts early in the week. football.london takes a look at what we spotted in Wednesday's released media from Chelsea training.
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Mateo Kovacic boost
The Croatian, who has been linked with interest from Manchester City in recent days, missed out on Chelsea's squad for the trip to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Potter revealed following the match that the 28-year-old was suffering from illness rather than simply being among the unfortunate group to miss out on the squad on this occasion.
David Datro Fofana, Carney Chukwuemeka and Trevoh Chalobah were also absent from that squad with Cesar Azpilicueta, Armando Broja, Edouard Mendy, N’Golo Kante and Christian Pulisic missing the game through injury. Kovacic was pictured back in training on Wednesday, however, in what will be a boost to Potter's midfield options.
Thiago Silva was of course, not among the images after the club confirmed that he suffered knee ligament damage during the game against Spurs.
Positive signs for N'Golo Kante and Christian Pulisic
There was good news on Monday as N'Golo Kante and Christian Pulisic trained once again having started to do some warm up work with the first team squad last week. Potter explained in his press conference ahead of Spurs: "They [Kante and Pulisic] are making progress and joining in the warm-ups. They will be more integrated next week. So that is good."
They joined the likes of Trevoh Chalobah, Marc Cucurella and Carney Chukwuemeka, who missed out on the squad that faced the Lilywhites, while players who played significant minutes in the defeat undertook a recovery session.
Kante and Pulisic were joined by a broader group on Wednesday however, with Ben Chilwell in particular looking pleased to see his American teammate in the release footage. The duo once again could be seen participating in the team's warm up but also appeared to feature in some small-sided games and drills as things appear to be progressing well.
Potter has tended to reintroduce players to first team action slowly, so the weekend may still come too soon but it will no doubt prove tempting to rely on your best players come a do-or-die match against Borussia Dortmund.
Lewis Hall back with the first team
Lewis Hall has been one of the few successes of Chelsea's season to the extent that he essentially became a first team squad member having started as a key component of the development squad. However, after January transfers and a raft of players returning from injury, making a matchday squad has proved more difficult.
The 18-year-old missed out on squads against Fulham, West Ham and Tottenham but made the bench for defeat to Southampton. Monday evening saw him return to the development squad for a crucial win over Arsenal, however, where he played in his favoured midfield position.
Nevertheless he has quickly returned to the first team group to train ahead of Leeds rather than continue to prepare with his academy teammates. A positive sign for how he is regarded by the coaching staff.
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