After sustaining a second knee injury in his return game on Boxing Day, Reece James appears to be on track to make his second significant injury comeback of the season. James was set to play in his first game since early October against Bournemouth at Stamford Bridge after hobbling off against AC Milan at the San Siro in the Champions League group stage, but his comeback was cut short by yet another injury.
Later, the team announced that the defender would be sidelined for at least a month. Because the Premier League match against Fulham on Friday, February 3 is only outside that window, Chelsea manager Graham Potter has stated that James will be in his squad tomorrow night.
Raheem Sterling, Reece James, Ben Chilwell,and Ruben [Loftus-Cheek] are back in the squad, not ready for 90 minutes but in the squad," Potter said when asked for the latest team news ahead of the west London derby.
Chelsea have greatly missed the absence of James during his prolonged absences this season with no other member of the Blues squad able to match his output and intensity. Trevoh Chalobah has filled in admirably but the return of James is undoubtedly a boost for Chelsea if they can keep him fit and ease him back into action.
As Potter revealed, the 23-year-old is not ready to complete 90 minutes, and although it's very possible he starts and is an early substitution on Friday, that plan was in play last time and it saw return to the treatment table very quickly.
Such is the velocity he plays football at, injuries have plagued James for the last few campaigns but he will hoping this is final injury setback of this season. Posting on Instagram, he said: "Damn these legs been thru a lot but forever grateful for the highs and lows, now its goooo time".
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