Romelu Lukaku, Mateo Kovacic, Andreas Christensen, Reece James and Edouard Mendy were among those Blues back at our Surrey training base following midweek action for their national teams.

The sight of Lukaku on the grass was particularly positive after the striker admitted following Belgium's victory over Czech Republic that he had been struggling with a minor thigh issue. Our number nine showed no signs of discomfort as he joined in the penultimate session before we host Aston Villa on Saturday evening.

The returning faces also gave new loan signing Saul Niguez the chance to meet some of his new team-mates for the first time following his deadline day switch from Atletico Madrid.

As usual, our club photographer was on hand to capture all the best shots from the session and we've selected some of the best below...