Kovacic and Ziyech set to return for Chelsea

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Mateo Kovacic and Hakim Ziyech will both be available for Chelsea’s trip to Nottingham Forest on Sunday.

They missed the 2-0 win over Bournemouth, having returned later from the World Cup after reaching the semi-finals with Croatia and Morocco respectively.

But goalkeeper Edouard Mendy is still a doubt, having sustained an injury to a bone near his shoulder.


“Both of those guys will be back,” boss Graham Potter said.

“Mendy, we’re not sure. We’ll see how he is over the next few days.

“He’s had a problem with his bone here (near shoulder) that he picked up in the World Cup, so it will still be a little bit of time.”

Chelsea go into the game having secured a much needed three points against Bournemouth, but Potter says it is vital that they do not underestimate a Forest side that have struggled this season.

“You can’t say on the one hand that it’s the greatest league in the world and then think there’s easy games,” he said.

“There aren’t. Forest got a fantastic result against Liverpool before the break and I have huge respect for Steve Cooper and the job that he’s done there is tremendous.

“He’s a fantastic coach. They will be ready, the atmosphere will be hostile I’m pretty sure because there back in the Premier League for the first time in a long, long time. So every game, especially Chelsea coming to town, is a big game.”