Victory for the Blues under the Stamford Bridge lights on Monday night will cut the gap to Newcastle in the top-flight table to one point and ensure we move closer to the European places.

That remains the objective for head coach Mauricio Pochettino, although it's one made harder by the news that both Levi Colwill and Ben Chilwell have been added to the absentee list.

'We need to wait until he has seen a specialist,' the Blues head coach explained this afternoon at his pre-match press conference. 'We hope it is not a big issue but at this moment I prefer to be cautious and wait.

'It was his knee and we only found out after the game [against Brentford]. It was the same with Colwill. We finished with two players who then couldn't train. Levi's problem is his toe.'

Pochettino also confirmed Conor Gallagher is a doubt for Monday's game due to the midfielder suffering from a virus. 'We will see tomorrow or Saturday if he [Gallagher] will have the possibility to train,' said the Argentine.

'The problem with this situation is that [after an illness] the energy is down and you need time to recover. We will see if he can be available.'

There was better news on the fitness front regarding Benoit Badiashile and Carney Chukwuemeka.

The former, pictured above, is now undertaking partial team training while the latter is set to return to full training.

Two players who made their respective comebacks from injury last weekend were Thiago Silva and Marc Cucurella, both of whom were named in the matchday squad for our 2-2 draw against Brentford.

Neither were introduced from the substitutes' bench at the Gtech Community Stadium but both should be in contention to feature against Newcastle following the injuries sustained by Colwill and Chilwell.

Also involved in today's session were midfield pair Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo. The two have struck up a good relationship on and off the pitch, something which the latter has discussed this week.

‘It’s easy to play with him,’ Caicedo explained. ‘We have the same language on the pitch and help each other. We enjoy when we win and we are frustrated when we lose.’

As has been the case throughout the campaign, there were several players from our Academy sides involved in today's first-team session. And Pochettino highlighted the importance of giving the club's own experience of the senior environment.

'We know very well a lot of the academy players because every week there have been between five and nine players training with us,' the Chelsea head coach explained.

'We have amazing talent in the academy that we need to use in these circumstances. It's going to be great for the future of the club.

'To provide them the possibility to train with the first team and to be involved in some games is to build the future and build the confidence for them to one day arrive and be part of the first team.'