Ben Chilwell, Carney Chukwuemeka return to Chelsea training, Lesley Ugochukwu out for six weeks

Mauricio Pochettino has confirmed that Ben Chilwell and Carney Chukwuemeka are close to making a comeback, while Lesley Ugochukwu could be ruled out for six weeks.

Mauricio Pochettino has confirmed that Ben Chilwell and Carney Chukwuemeka are on the verge of making a comeback from their respective injuries, while Lesley Ugochukwu could reportedly be ruled out for the next six weeks.
Chilwell has not featured for the club since the end of September due to a hamstring injury, while Chukwuemeka only made two appearances before sustaining a knee injury.

Chelsea are set to take on Preston North End in the FA Cup third round on Saturday, but the Blues boss did confirm that neither Chilwell nor Chukwuemeka would be risked this weekend.

The upcoming match follows a victory at Luton Town and, notably, comes after a seven-day gap between games, which provided some respite for the Blues after a busy festive period.

In his pre-match press conference, Pochettino explained, “Chilwell and Carney are not available for tomorrow. We will see for the next game, Middlesbrough semi-final or Fulham. They are doing well, training with the group the last few days, we are happy with their evolution.”

“Lavia is recovering after his injury. We don’t know when he will be available again. Problem in his quad during the game against Palace. Benoît I think is going to be available for next week.”

“[And] Christoph is not going to start tomorrow because he suffered some issues during the week but he is going to be in the squad. We need to be careful with him like I told you. Six months where he didn’t compete and when he starts to compete it’s not the same”, added the Chelsea manager.

One player not mentioned by Pochettino was Lesley Ugochukwu, who is believed to have suffered a setback in his hamstring rehabilitation, according to a report from the Standard.

The report adds that the French Under-21 international re-injured his hamstring in the Blues’ Christmas Eve encounter against Wolverhampton Wanderers and could be facing up to six weeks on the sideline.

Ugochukwu has played an important role for Pochettino this season, making 13 appearances across all competitions.

It is also understood that in response to the injury to Ugochukwu, Chelsea have decided to recall teenager Andrey Santos from a disappointing loan stint at Nottingham Forest, where he only managed to make two appearances in the first half of the season.

The 19-year-old has rejoined training with Chelsea and could be in line to play a part in the weekend’s clash against Preston.

However, one player that will definitely not be involved in the FA Cup clash on Saturday is Nicolas Jackson, who was called up by Senegal for their upcoming Africa Cup of Nations campaign.

That could leave the door open for the likes of Armando Broja and Christopher Nkunku, who are both returning from extended periods on the sideline due to injury.

“It is a possibility for Armando to play,” said Pochettino. “Christoph is not going to start because he suffered an issue during the week. He’s going to be in the squad but he’s not going to start. We need to be careful with him because he is starting to compete after six months out.”

The Chelsea boss added, “Armando is going to have the possibility to be maybe more involved because he is one of our main strikers and it is a good opportunity for him to perform and be relaxed. We really trust in him, he has amazing potential and quality. Now he needs to forget his injury for the last year and start to behave normally.”

Chelsea had been linked with the likes of Victor Osimhen and Ivan Toney ahead of the January transfer window, but they will likely have to sell a few players in order to make any new signings after spending around £350m in the summer.

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