Chelsea’s Carney Chukwuemeka resumes first-team training after lengthy injury absence

Chelsea attacking midfielder Carney Chukwuemeka has resumed first-team training after recovering from an injury that ruled him out for over a month.

The former Aston Villa star has been out of action since the Blues lost to West Ham United on August 20.

The 19-year-old had scored his first goal for the club that day, but his joy was shortlived as he had to make way due to an injury. 

Chukwuemeka has missed six league and cup games. He has been a massive miss for the Blues as they have lacked his ability to connect midfield to attack.

The two-time Champions League winners have played Enzo Fernandez in the number ten role, but he has not coped with playing further forward.

Chelsea will hope to have Chukwuemeka fit and firing as soon as possible, but he may not make an appearance in their clash against Fulham on Monday.

Manager Mauricio Pochettino will ease him in slowly as the Blues look to bounce back from a poor start to the campaign.

The club is 14th in the Premier League with only one win from their first six league games. 

However, they will take much-needed confidence from their League Cup victory over Brighton & Hove Albion.

The Blues won 1-0 in midweek and will hope to carry that momentum to Craven Cottage on Monday. 

Chelsea have also announced that Ben Chilwell is still undergoing assessment after suffering an injury during the Brighton game.

Benoit Badishile, Marcus Bettinelli, Trevoh Chalobah, Wesley Fofana, Reece James, Christopher Nkunku, and Romeo Lavia remain ruled out.