Chelsea have received a fitness boost ahead of the Premier League's resumption, with Mike Penders returning to full first-team training at Cobham. The Blues face Bournemouth on Saturday after the three-week international break.
Injury concerns during the break
Several Chelsea players withdrew from international duty during the break, including Reece James, Cole Palmer, and Joao Pedro, who pulled out of England and Brazil squads respectively citing injuries. Jamie Gittens also suffered what appears to be a serious ankle injury, forcing him onto crutches.
Penders missed part of Belgium's camp with a quad injury and did not feature in any of his nation's four matches during the break, with Manchester United's Senne Lammens and Leipzig's Maarten Vandevoordt preferred.
Back in training
Penders has now been pictured in full first-team training at Cobham, duelling with Jorrel Hato in an image shared on the club's website. He may be in line to start this weekend, with Emi Martinez still on Argentina duty as of early Wednesday morning, when he appeared in Lionel Messi's testimonial friendly against Benin. It is not yet clear whether Martinez will be back in London in time for the visit of the Cherries.
Also pictured in the session were returning internationals Pedro Neto and Estevao, while Emmanuel Emegha was pictured in a session earlier this week. Conspicuous by their absences were Palmer, Joao Pedro, and Moises Caicedo, none of whom appear to have trained in recent weeks.
Ongoing issues
Caicedo has been dealing with a calf injury since the summer, which has prevented him from making any meaningful contribution to this campaign. Joao Pedro is thought to be dealing with a knee issue, for which he has been seeing a specialist this month. Palmer was reportedly handed some holiday time in the early days of the break, which he spent in the Caribbean with a personal trainer who aided in his recovery.
