Chelsea have received a fine addition ahead of their return to Premier League motion against Tottenham, with Nicolas Jackson pictured in training on Wednesday.
Jackson suffered a thigh injury during Chelsea’s victory over West Ham last month and the 23-year-old forward has missed the club’s last eight matches in all competitions.
While Jackson has faced his justifiable share of criticism since arriving at Stamford Bridge, Cole Palmer is the one Chelsea player to outscore the Senegal international this season and his absence has left Enzo Maresca desperately short up front.
Pedro Neto has deputised through the center for Chelsea’s last 4 league matches with some success, but Maresca will little doubt be relieved to see his primary striker, Jackson, closing in on his return.
The Blues confirmed on their official website that Jackson had trained each within the gym and on the grass at Cobham, together with the likes of Malo Gusto, Jadon Sancho and Chrisopher Nkunku who had not been chosen for international duty.
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After the session, Jackson shared a photograph showing him surrounded by his Chelsea team-mates in a huddle together with the praying hands emoji, a possible nod to his impending comeback.
It stays to be seen whether Jackson might be deemed fit enough to feature against Spurs, with fourth-placed Chelsea seeking to make it five wins from their last six matches in next week’s London derby.
There was still no sign of Palmer in Wednesday’s training-ground pictures, though, after a muscle problem forced the forward out of Chelsea’s defeat to Arsenal.
The injury also meant Palmer couldn’t be considered for selection for England’s World Cup qualifying wins over Albania and Latvia.
‘Cole is not going to be with us. He was not on the pitch with Chelsea,’ England head coach Thomas Tuchel said of Palmer’s fitness ahead of the Wembley double-header.
‘We’ve waited quite some time now for feedback and for the prospect, possibly, to call him up.
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‘But he’s not on the pitch and never available. It is unnecessary to call him up now.
‘We stick with this group that we’ve got. Everybody is in training today, all 26 players, so it gives us the total alternative.
‘Hopefully nothing happens on this training session and we can have to tough decisions to make for tomorrow.’
There stays some uncertainty surrounding Noni Madueke’s fitness, though Maresca is hopeful the winger – who has been combating a hamstring issue – will return to face Tottenham.
Marc Guiu, meanwhile, has been sidelined since early February with the same problem however the 19-year-old has stepped up his rehabilitation in the course of the break and is believed to be nearing full fitness again.
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