Calum McFarlane hinted at his pre-match press conference that both Reece James and Levi Colwill could return to the Chelsea squad for Monday’s clash with Nottingham Forest, but stressed that neither player will be rushed back unless completely ready to feature.
The duo, both graduates of our Cobham academy, have been sidelined with injuries this season – Colwill with a knee problem that has kept him out since pre-season, while James in more recent weeks with a hamstring issue.
Both defenders have returned to team training, however, while Colwill recently stepped up his recovery by featuring for our Under-21 side, gaining valuable match action.
Whether the duo will be fit to feature when Vitor Pereira’s side visit Stamford Bridge on Monday afternoon remains to be seen, but McFarlane delivered a positive update on both players when speaking to the gathered media at Cobham on Friday.
‘Reece is back in training, and Levi is back in training also,’ McFarlane stated at his pre-Forest press conference.
‘Both are looking good, which is really positive. We’re still a little way out from the game [on Monday], so we’ll see how they do in the next few training sessions but are looking promising.
‘There are still a lot of games still to play, and we don't want to push too much, so we're just taking it day by day and, hopefully, they come through okay.
'Levi has had a long injury and we don’t want to push him too much. But both are looking good and potentially they could be [in the squad vs Forest], yes.’
Welcoming back skipper James would be a real boost for McFarlane, with our interim head coach acknowledging how much of a support the right-back has been to him since taking charge until the end of the season, and previously when he was interim head coach before Liam Rosenior’s arrival in January.
‘Reece has been brilliant from the day I stepped up in January,’ added Calum.
‘This time around, he's injured, so it's a little bit of a different role, but even though he's still young, he's massively experienced.
‘He's won major tournaments, he loves the club, and he cares about the club. He's driving and pushing standards every day. We have a leadership group here that he's a massive part of, and he's been a massive support to myself and all the staff involved on an interim basis.’