Werner to be assessed and Lukaku is close to return

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Chelsea will assess Timo Werner’s fitness ahead of Saturday’s game at Leicester.

Romelu Lukaku and Mateo Kovacic will remain sidelined for the trip to the East Midlands.

But Werner returned to full training this week following a hamstring injury and could be involved against the Foxes.


Blues boss Thomas Tuchel also confirmed that Mason Mount, sidelined prior to the international break, is fit again, and that Thiago Silva will be monitored because of his travelling this week while on international duty with Brazil.

Tuchel added that Christian Pulisic is “fine” following his recent return from an ankle injury.

“Matteo and Romelu are still out for the game at Leicester,” Tuchel said.

“Romelu is very close to team training so hopefully he will try to come back (to training) on Sunday. We’ll see how it works out. He’s pushing hard and trying to come back as soon as possible.

Lukaku has been out with an ankle problem

“Matteo will take another days until he is ready to join team training.

“Timo is in training since yesterday, so let’s see. We will decide if it makes sense if he’s in the squad.

“Thiago Silva did not play (for Brazil) but of course he has some trouble with time differences sometimes so we’ll see how this works out, but I’m confident.

“And Mason is back in training, looking hungry and fresh and in good spirits. But we need to evaluate this to see if he can start and play 90 minutes.”

Tuchel was reluctant to discuss whether striker Lukaku, who has been out with an ankle injury, might be available for Tuesday’s Champions League game against Juventus or next Sunday’s visit of Manchester United.

“It’s pure speculation and will not help,” Tuchel said.

“All I can say at the moment is we are trying hard. We will try training on Sunday and if everything works out perfectly then he might join on the bench.

“But there are a lot of ifs and I don’t want to put pressure on him. We will not rush things.

“We will take things seriously, as always, and we will have talks with doctors and physios and the player and will decide.”