Chelsea receive major injury boost as star duo return to training before Aston Villa tie

Kai Havertz and Reece James have returned to training before Chelsea’s clash against Aston Villa

Chelsea have received a huge fitness boost, (h/t Evening Standard) with Reece James and Kai Havertz participating in training before Saturday’s Premier League match against Aston Villa.

James was withdrawn from the England team owing to a hamstring problem before their Euro 2024 qualifying match against Ukraine, while Havertz was dropped from the Germany squad due to sickness before their match against Belgium.

Aston Villa, who are currently in 11th place in the rankings, will meet 10th-place Chelsea. The Blues have won three and drawn one of their games in March. The team’s next opponent will be Liverpool on April 5, so Potter will be hoping that the players maintain their recent success.

Moreover, Potter arranged a friendly match between Charlton and players who had not been selected for international service, including the recently injured N’Golo Kante, who played for the full 60 minutes.

With Kante back, Potter will start a solid lineup for the Blues, who will want to go higher than 10th because finishing in fourth place appears unlikely. But, given that Chelsea will play seven of the nine clubs above them in their last 11 games, his job would be simpler.

Havertz and James returning to training is good news. But it will be even better if we see them feature in the game. A return to Cobham doesn’t mean a return to the starting XI straight away. There is always the chance to unfreeze Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and play him up top.

Ruben Loftus-Cheek, meanwhile, could be used in the right-back position as well, where Raheem Sterling has also deputized earlier this campaign. Nevertheless, having players return from injury is always good.

We just have to make sure not to rush them back in and aggravate their fitness issues. We did this with James and we can’t afford to risk the young man’s career like this. Havertz we can still manage without for the time being with Joao Felix another option we can use.

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Aston Villa, who have gone undefeated in their previous four games, won’t be an easy task by any means. We will need our best players and hopefully, Havertz and James are available in some capacity – be it from the bench. One is brilliant in the hole and in tight spaces while the other is a master creator from the right flank.