Chelsea have been given a boost with Thiago Silva and Antonio Rudiger returning to training ahead of Wednesday night’s Champions League clash with Malmo.
The centre-backs missed Saturday’s 1-0 Premier League victory at Brentford but are now in the mix to feature in the Group H clash at Stamford Bridge.
Silva had to sit out the derby as he had did not return from international duty with Brazil until Friday afternoon, leaving the 37-year-old not enough time to prepare for the club game just over 24 hours later.
Rudiger picked up a minor back problem while with Germany but has overcome that to resume training.
In the absence of the experienced duo, Thomas Tuchel was short of options for the Brentford game and that led to the Chelsea manager giving 22-year-old Malang Sarr a Premier League debut.
Sarr appeared in a back three also containing the Trevoh Chalobah, whose top-flight debut was only in August, and Andreas Christensen.
Despite the changes, Chelsea managed to keep a clean sheet although that was thanks in large part to a stunning performance from Edouard Mendy.
The goalkeeper defied belief at times as he held the hosts at bay amid tense pressure in the final 20 minutes.
Christensen said: "He showed on Saturday he is one of the top keepers in the world, not just the Premier League.
"He is a top goalkeeper. You can see how important he is to us, to the team. Yet again we are lucky we have him.”
Read More
Chelsea go into Wednesday’s Champions League game, second in Group H and three points behind Juventus, who beat the Blues 1-0 on matchday two at the end of last month.