Ben Chilwell and Carney Chukwuemeka, two Chelsea players, have been spotted training at Cobham ahead of the Blues’ FA Cup matchup with Preston North End. Since suffering a hamstring injury at the conclusion of Chelsea’s Carabao Cup victory against Brighton, Chilwell has not played, and Chukwuemeka, a former Aston Villa player, has not played since being hurt against West Ham after tying the score in the game.

The latter was supposed to return early in the season and made an appearance off the bench against Burnley before suffering a setback in October due to a complex knee injury. Chukwuemeka’s strategy called for further therapy in order for him to regain full fitness.

After completing the preseason in the United States, Chukwuemeka was destined for a significant position in Chelsea’s lineup in the absence of Christopher Nkunku. The 20-year-old left the field against the Hammers after 45 minutes of play in the west London team’s first two games of the season.

In December, Pochettino remarked, “Carney. We have another sign for that. That player has the potential to be the playmaker we are discussing. He never played again after being fired. He was performing well and scoring.”

Individual work has been seen by Chukwuemeka and Chilwell on Chelsea’s training pitches in the past. The Chelsea players were spotted playing in small groups when the photos were released on Monday, so it looks like they were at least partially reintroduced to the team.

With Wesley Fofana, Reece James, and Marc Cucurella out for the foreseeable future, the Blues still have a long injury list. We’ll soon have updates on people like Benoit Badiashile, Trevohh Chalobah, Lesley Ugochukwu, Robert Sanchez, and Romeo Lavia.

The head coach of Chelsea will be happy to see new players join his team since, even with the transfer window open, he still prioritizes working with the current group.

He stated following the victory over Luton: “The most important in my opinion is to work with the squad, it is only now pushing them to step up, recovering players, that is my focus, 100 per cent to try to improve our squad and the players that we have.”