Graham Potter is set for his first Premier League match in charge of Chelsea this weekend when the Blues head to Selhurst Park to take on Crystal Palace. The international break is just about over as the 47-year-old now awaits the return of his vast swathes of players who joined up with their national teams over the last 10 days.
Ahead of his first game in charge against Red Bull Salzburg, Potter said he was opting for 'good experience and good know-how of the Champions League and this football club' in his team selection, which saw the likes of Wesley Fofana and Kalidou Koulibaly have to make do with a place on the bench. While Chelsea had a behind-closed-doors friendly with Brighton when their match with Liverpool was postponed, Potter has not had a great deal of contact time to go beyond his initial assessments.
The international break will have left plenty of time for Potter to research and analyse his squad, however, and while many of his players will be travelling from around Europe and beyond back to Cobham in the next couple of days, some have already returned to the Surrey training base, and have some training under their belts.
READ MORE: Wesley Fofana return, Kai Havertz change – What Graham Potter and Chelsea should do vs Palace
With that said, football.london takes a look at what we've spotted from the squad's first couple of days working with Potter since their time off.
N'Golo Kante returns
Perhaps the standout point was seeing N'Golo Kante return to 'part' training on Tuesday. Having started Chelsea's first two matches of the season, the Frenchman missed the following six with a hamstring injury he picked up against Spurs, and as a result was not called up for the France squad.
Kante was designed to be out for a minimum of four weeks and has not played now for six, though has already undertaken individual outdoor work before joining back up with his teammates this week. The 31-year-old proved a pivotal figure for Thomas Tuchel, though his injury record left the German coach frustrated. With an intense October on the way, whether Kante can take on similar importance for Potter and retain his fitness for the World Cup remains to be seen.
One player missing
As expected, those not involved with international football were the first to return with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Trevoh Chalobah, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Kepa Arrizabalga and Marcus Bettinelli all present on Monday. Edouard Mendy was also with the group to help make a healthy stock of goalkeepers for new coach Ben Roberts to work with. Assistant goalkeeping coach James Russell was still heavily involved in drills, however.
Mendy appears to have stepped up his fitness having missed Chelsea's last fixture with a knee issue before pulling out
The one figure not called up for international duty and still yet to be pictured with a session is Marc Cucurella however. The Spaniard is obviously already familiar with Potter and his staff and played a key role in the new Chelsea coach's opening game. It remains to be seen whether his absence is anything to worry about.
The academy helping out
Carney Chukwuemeka, Bashir Humphreys, Teddy Sharman-Lowe, Lewis Hall, Zak Sturge, Leo Castledine and Samuel Rak-Sakyi of Chelsea's development squad may have been involved with a variety of England squads and the Blues may have had a number of players with the Three Lionsnunder-17 squad in the form of Josh Acheampong, Somto Boniface, Ted Curd, Kiano Dyer, Tyrique George and Michael Golding but there was still some talent hanging around at Cobham.
Potter would have been able to get a strong impression of a number of Chelsea's development squad, as they made up the bulk of his numbers for first team training at the start of the week. Charlie Webster, Omari Hutchinson, Dion Rankine, Dylan Williams, Ben Elliott, Alfie Gilchrist, Mason Burstow, Jude Soonsup-Bell, Brodi Hughes, Derrick Abu, Josh Brooking were all pictured taking part in drills and games.
Some chances arose for youngsters to be involved during the Christmas period last term, with Harvey Vale, Jude Soonsup-Bell, Xavier Simons and Lewis Hall all making their debuts in cup competitions. October may be dominated by Premier League and Champions League games, but the schedule will be as chaotic so opportunities could arise to fill out training or squads going forward as the squad is managed.
Clinical Loftus-Cheek
While it will be difficult to read too much into this week's training so far, Ruben Loftus-Cheek can't have done his chance of impressing Potter any harm. The midfielder has possibly been one of the highlights of the Blues' season so far, though was not started against Salzburg ahead of the break. With extra time to work with Potter, he will hope to get his chance against former loan side Crystal Palace.
Receiving the ball from Elliott, Loftus-Cheek took a couple of small touches before knocking the ball to his right and emphatically responding to the call of 'finish it' from the edge of the box. Bettinelli could do nothing to stop the fierce strike. Not a bad impression to leave.
While the goalkeepers battle it out, Aubameyang will no doubt be hoping to prove the level of his fitness to build from his first start under Potter, while Chalobah will hope to prove his qualities and adeptness at taking on Potter's instruction to try and displace Cesar Azpilicueta from the lineup while holding off competition from Fofana and Koulibaly.
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