Chelsea and Frank Lampard will be hoping to defeat the odds on Wednesday evening when they take on Real Madrid in the Champions League quarter-final.
The Blues travel to Spain for the first leg of the tie before welcoming the reigning European champions to Stamford Bridge next week. Lampard will need his stars back if he is to guide the West Londoners to an historic triumph over Carlo Ancelotti's side and will benefit from a number of players returning from injury.
After welcoming Raheem Sterling back over the weekend, Chelsea have been handed a major boost in the fitness of Thiago Silva. The defender has been out injured since February's defeat to Tottenham but is now close to returning.
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Silva returned to first-team training at Cobham on Monday meaning he is now in contention to face Los Blancos in the Spanish capital. However, it remains unclear whether Lampard will take the risk and start the 38-year-old at the Bernabeu.
One player who should be available for selection in Spain is N'Golo Kante. The Frenchman was rested on Saturday as a precaution as part of his recovery from a long-term hamstring problem. "N'Golo will be fine as it stands now," Lampard told reporters after the defeat at Wolves. "[We're] managing him to be fit for the game. It's not an issue."
The Blues boss will also be hoping to welcome Mason Mount back after the midfielder missed the defeat to Wolves. The academy graduate had initially returned to training at the latter end of last week but suffered another setback.
"Mason had a feeling in his pelvic area. Injury that he's been carrying the last two days," Lampard said. "He trained in those two days but was struggling a little bit."
Elsewhere, Chelsea will continue to be without Armando Broja and Cesar Azpilicueta, the former a long-term absentee and the latter last seen on February 18.
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