Injury Boosr for Antonio Conte as Danny Drinkwater Finally Returns to Full Training with Chelsea First-team

Chelsea boss Antonio Conte has received a welcome injury boost after summer signing Danny Drinkwater finally took part in training with the rest of the first-team squad. The £35m arrival from Leicester City is yet to make his debut for the club, having been ruled out of action with a calf injury picked up before he moved to west London. Since then, Chelsea’s squad has been ravaged by injury, with Alvaro Morata, N’Golo Kante and Victor Moses all picking up hamstring injuries amid concerns over Conte’s training methods.

Kante will definitely miss the weekend the weekend clash at home to Watford, with Conte picking a midfield three of David Luiz, Tiemoue Bakayoko and Cesc Fabregas in his absence against Roma. But neither Luiz nor Bakayoko were spotted in training on Thursday, with Chelsea posting a video on their YouTube account on Friday morning, with some reports suggesting they are carrying niggles.

At least Conte will soon be able to call on Drinkwater, with the England international taking to the training pitch for the first time this week – though he is not expected to be in contention for the Watford clash. Nevertheless, his potential return will be a massive relief, especially with Chelsea facing such a demanding fixture list.

Having already played twice since the close of the international break, Chelsea now have to contend with five games across the next 16 days.

Conte may see the midweek Carabao Cup tie against Everton as the ideal opportunity to give Drinkwater his first minutes of the season, with that match followed by league clashes against Bournemouth and Manchester United either side of an away trip to Rome. Conte’s already small squad is being stretched to breaking point with all their current injury problems, with some players reportedly fearing that his gruelling regime is the cause.