Xabi Alonso says Moises Caicedo is 'ready to go' against Bournemouth, and there are also positive updates on the fitness of Reece James, Marco Palestra, Cole Palmer and Joao Pedro.
Following the extended international break, which Alonso described as positive for the Blues but 'probably too long', we return to action tomorrow afternoon as Bournemouth visit Stamford Bridge in the Premier League.
The three-week gap between fixtures gave Alonso and his coaching and medical staff quality time to work with several players at Cobham, and five members of his squad have recovered from issues that kept them sidelined in the early weeks of the season or out of representing their countries.
One of those is Caicedo. The Ecuadorian midfielder has featured only once this term – a curtailed substitute appearance against Brighton and Hove Albion in August – due to injury, but returned to full training during the break and is available for selection against Bournemouth.
‘Yes, he is ready to go,' Alonso replied when asked about Caicedo's fitness. 'We have used the time with Moi to get him back fit. He has been training well and he is okay to go.’
Alonso also confirmed that Marco Palestra, who has yet to make his competitive debut for the Blues due to an injury sustained in the final week of pre-season, is in contention to feature against the Cherries.
There was also good news on the fitness of James, Palmer and Joao Pedro, each of whom had to withdraw from representing England and Brazil, respectively, due to fitness concerns.
James and Joao Pedro missed our last outing before the international break, away to Brentford, while Alonso admits Palmer was struggling against the Bees.
However, the trio have all trained ahead of Bournemouth's visit and could feature. ‘They have all been able to train, some of them earlier than others – and Marco Palestra as well. That was the plan.
'We knew that going into Brentford we had some players struggling but they have trained well and are ready to go.’
On Palmer, Alonso added: 'He has trained the last week and has felt better. We didn’t want to rush because we had the time. What is most important for Cole is to be fully fit and that he enjoys his game and is feeling okay.
'In the Brentford game, we could see he was struggling and for the next part [of the season] we have a good feeling for him and that he is feeling better.’
The only disappointing news to come from Alonso's pre-match press conference was the confirmation that Jamie Gittens, who suffered an ankle injury while representing England Under-21s during the international break, will be ruled out for the foreseeable future.
Alonso said: ‘He is not going to be fit for tomorrow; that is the bad news from the international break. He picked up an injury on his ankle and is going to be out for a few weeks.’