Kante back, Fernandez and Felix injured – Chelsea top and worst international truce scenarios

Kante back, Fernandez and Felix injured – Chelsea top and worst international truce scenarios

While the majority of Chelsea's first team players are away to represent their country during the international break, there will be a handful returning to Cobham to continue their convalescence after an injury.

The first international truce this year comes at a very unfortunate time for Chelsea. After some dark weeks where the performances were as concerned as the results, Graham Potter's camp changed the game and is now undefeated in four games.

Three of them led to one victory. Leeds United was defeated at Stamford Bridge, though it's not easy. Borussia Dortmund lost in the Champions League to secure a place in the quarter final of the race. And then the Blues got their first win outside of the year when they crashed Leicester City at King Power Stadium.

Momentum was somewhat held back by the 2-2 tie against Everton – and the late equalizer Ellis Simms didn't do much to send Chelsea fans into the cheerful international breakthrough. Yet Potter remains confident that progress has been made by its players over the last several weeks.

I always say with those international breaks that you can't do anything about them, you just take them for who they are," he said on Saturday. "The weeks have been intense and we're going to take a break. We had a decent week, Everton was a performance that was good for us, but eventually frustrated to lose two points.

Potter admitted that he will use the international pause as a chance to reload and spend time with his family. But it will undoubtedly keep an eye on the montages in which its players participate, in addition to what is happening on the training ground of the club.

And this is soccer. London takes you through what could be the best and the worst scenario for the Blues during the International Truce.

Best-case

A handful of Chelsea players has stayed in Cobham during the international truce to continue their respective injury recovery. The most notable is N'Golo Kante, who made his highly anticipated return to the day team against Everton on Saturday.

Kant has been out of Chelsea since mid-August due to an injury to the ham tendon. That he's now about to come back as a first team. It was a huge boost for the team and for Potter, who was unable to select the World Cup winner throughout his mandate.

The international truce gives Chelsea the opportunity to make sure Kante is ready for the race of the season. It's the same thing for Wesley Fofana, Mason Mount, and Raheem Sterling, who are not far with their countries because of niggling injuries. Hopefully the trio will be able to come back when Aston Villa visits Stamford Bridge on April 1st.

Thiago Silva is also working on his comeback from a knee injury suffered against Tottenham Hotspur, but it is unlikely that the Brazilian will be ready to play against Villa. A natural goal should be the quarterfinals of the Champions League versus Real Madrid. The 38-year-old Bernabeu experiment will be crucial.

Apart from the injury boosts, the international break will allow several players to win vital game minutes and, for a few, to get into the showcase.  It is anticipated that the rotation of teams will continue before the 2023-2024 campaign. And people such as Christian Pulisic and Hakim Ziyech might score with the USMNT and Morocco respectively.

Worst-case

Injuries. Always injuries. A knock suffered by Enzo Fernandez. A strain that rules out Joao Felix. These are scenarios that Potter will be desperate to avoid as Chelsea can't afford to be without any of their key actors after the international break. Their Champions League campaign is all about that

On a similar topic, Chelsea's head coach will not want players who undertake rehabilitative work to suffer a setback. Chelsea was careful about Kante's return, as explained earlier. It would be hard for the midfielder to return after seven months of being further delayed.

It's a similar story with Fofana, who has proven himself, an impressive artist to the right of the Blues' back three, Mount and Sterling. Chelsea will play at least eight games in April and Potter will need to use the depth of her team to avoid overload and make sure her side remains cool.