Reece James has continued his recovery from injury, training with his Chelsea teammates at their mid-season training camp in Abu Dhabi.
The Blues right-back has been out of action since limping off during a Champions League meeting with AC Milan on October 11. He was hopeful at the time that the injury wouldn't be too bad, but unfortunately for the defender it was enough to rule him out of the World Cup in Qatar.
James wasn't the only member of Chelsea's squad to miss the World Cup through injury, with Ben Chilwell, N'Golo Kante and Kepa Arrizabalaga also suffering setbacks. Now, though, he appears to be well on the road to recovery ahead of the Premier League's return at the end of the month.
James has been put through his paces at the Blues' warm-weather training camp, where Kante and Wesley Fofana were also involved as they begin their respective comebacks from injury too.
Kepa and Chilwell both travelled with their teammates too, although their statuses are less clear. Kepa suffered a foot injury in the November defeat against Brighton, while Chilwell limped out of the game against Dinamo Zagreb with a hamstring problem.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Armando Broja both also made the trip, along with youngsters including summer signing Cesare Casadei.
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Chelsea are involved in the Al-Wahda Challenge Cup in the UAE, taking on Aston Villa on December 11. The game serves as a warm-up ahead of the Blues' return to Premier League action with a home game against Bournemouth on December 27.
Graham Potter's side lost their last three league games before the break, and also suffered elimination from the EFL Cup at the hands of Manchester City. After hosting Bournemouth and travelling to face fellow Premier League newcomers Nottingham Forest, Potter's men will take on City again in the league on January 5.
While James steps up his recovery, a number of his club team-mates have been involved at the World Cup. Mason Mount came off the bench for England in their last-16 victory over Senegal, though club colleague Raheem Sterling missed the game as he returned to England after a robbery at his house.
"At the moment clearly the priority is for him to be with his family and we are going to support that and we are going to need him to have as much time as he needs. He is going home," England manager Gareth Southgate said of Sterling.
"At the moment it is a situation that he needs time with his family to deal with and I don’t want to put him under any pressure with that. Sometimes football isn’t the most important thing and family should come first."
