Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino has hinted that a number of his key players are about to make their returns from injury.
The boss has had to deal with an immense amount of injury concerns throughout this campaign, with this no doubt having an effect on his ability to name a side to win every single week.
A number of their summer additions have hardly been able to feature so far this season, with Christopher Nkunku only making a handful of appearances since joining.
Considering the France international was brought in to revolutionise their attack, this has been a massive blow to their goalscoring abilities.
Defence has been another position where injuries have played a big part this season. Wesley Fofana has been absent for the entire campaign up to now.
Another player who has been missing for multiple games is Levi Colwill, with him missing some big affairs in the backend of the season.
Levi Colwill close to injury return
Pochettino has now stated that alongside Nkunku, Colwill is closing in on a return, and could be back this weekend against West Ham.
He said: “We were preparing for the game for tomorrow, doing some set-pieces, tactical work, meetings, and they are nearly there. They are on the line but they have still not crossed the line.”
“Maybe for Sunday against West Ham, we hope [Colwill and Nkunku] will be ready. But still, we will wait for tomorrow and then Friday before we decide if they can cope with the competition. I think they are so close to being available.”
Pochettino is dealing with the here and now though, and has the task of picking up a big three points tonight against Tottenham.
Thiago Silva and Axel Disasi ruled out
He will struggle to name a starting XI that completely exists of first team players, after he saw more players added to the injury list after the draw against Aston Villa.
He confirmed in the pre-match press conference that both Axel Disasi and Thiago Silva were going to be unavailable, leaving him a real headache over who to pick at the back at Stamford Bridge tonight.