https://www.chelseafc.com/en/news/2022/01/21/
tuchel-chelsea-injury-update-ahead-of-tottenham
Two Chelsea defenders return to training after injury
21 Jan 2022
Thomas Tuchel has been boosted by the news Trevoh Chalobah and Reece James
are back out on the grass as they continue their recovery from injury, but
the boss won't have any fresh faces available to him for Sunday's game
against Tottenham.
https://i.imgur.com/taNxeJm.jpg
Chalobah hasn't played since the draw with Liverpool at the start of this
year when he aggravated a hamstring strain, while James has been out since
the game before, against Brighton, when he went off with a more serious
hamstring injury.
Tuchel started his press conference today by providing an update on the
right-back before discussing the group more generally.
'We have a timeframe [on Reece's return] but we will not make it public
because we will just get asked about the timeframe,' Tuchel said.
'He is back on the pitch which is good news, but he is in individual
training so far away from being a part of the squad for Sunday.
https://i.imgur.com/TRaUTfW.jpg
'Trevoh Chalobah is back in team training but also way too early to play
the game on Sunday at this kind of level. So actually nobody is coming
back, it's the same squad.
'We decided to give them two days off to disconnect a little bit, but the
two days alone will not solve everything,' added Tuchel.
'It was good to have and after the Tottenham game we have the chance to
give the majority of the players more days off because we need it. But for
Sunday we have to make sure we are in a different mindset, a different
attitude and top shape, because it is a big match.'
Tuchel later confirmed Andreas Christensen remains out after his positive
Covid result, and the hope is he will be able to return to training next
week.
The boss was then asked about Ousmane Dembele, who he worked with at
Borussia Dortmund, amid media speculation linking him with a transfer to
Chelsea.
'He's a very good player, and I am very fortunate to have trained him in
my time at Dortmund. It was only one year, it should have been longer, but
I needed to leave and he decided to leave.
'We are not in close contact, we have met here and there because of his
duties for the French national team when I was in Paris. We exchanged some
messages.
'I have absolutely no idea why he is in this situation, I don't know the
detail, so it's better not to talk.'
The future of Toni Rudiger remains up in the air with his contract
expiring in the summer. Tuchel's media conference finished with him being
queried about his compatriot and if there was anything to update.
'I have said many times how important he is. The talks and negotiations
are ongoing so there is no news.'