Joao Pedro is on course to return from injury for Chelsea against Bournemouth this weekend.
It is almost a month since Joao Pedro rescued a point for Chelsea at home to newly-promoted Hull, though that remains his last senior appearance.
Injury and recovery
Now, despite being replaced in the Brazil squad prior to the Blues' west London derby against Brentford, manager Xabi Alonso had refused to rule Joao Pedro out of contention.
Ultimately though, as Chelsea slumped to a 3-0 defeat to west London rivals Brentford before the international break, the forward watched on from afar as he was forced to miss the game through injury.
Standard Sport then exclusively revealed that the 25-year-old had been suffering with a knee issue and saw a specialist in London as he worked on his recovery.
Alonso confirms fitness
That decision was taken in an attempt to speed up Joao Pedro's return to action and it has paid off with Alonso confirming in the pre-Bournemouth press conference that the Brazilian has been passed fit.
"They have all been able to train, some of them earlier than others – and Marco Palestra as well," the Spaniard told reporters on Friday afternoon. "That was the plan.
"We knew that going into Brentford we had some players struggling but they have trained well and are ready to go."
Team selection
Whether Joao Pedro is handed an immediate recall to start for Chelsea against Bournemouth remains to be seen as Alonso may not want to rush his star forward back and risk a recurrence of the knee injury.
Danny Welbeck lead the line in the absence of the Brazilian against Brentford, but filling the shoes of the three-goal forward proved a step too far for the summer signing from Brighton.
The Chelsea team to face the Cherries will be announced at 1.45pm BST on Saturday, October 10, ahead of the 3pm kick-off at Stamford Bridge.
