Two of Chelsea's best players were captured in an image at the training ground together as they continue ongoing treatment ahead of eagerly awaited returns to action. With Wesley Fofana, Ben Chilwell and Armando Broja also facing time out with varying degrees of injury, an energetic core has been lost.
Graham Potter has struggled to come up with answers to these losses and that is reflected by the results, with Chelsea winning just one of the eight league games without Reece James this season and none of their last six. In a wider view there has been just one game since December 2021 that saw all of James, Chilwell and N'Golo Kante play together and that was against Everton on the opening day.
Although Kante has been in and out of the side for three years with persistent knee issues following on from the Europa League final in 2019, he is still one of the most unique, important and irreplaceable players in the squad. He has played in just two matches for club and country all season after going off against Tottenham in August.
