Mauricio Pochettino and his staff have been preparing the squad at Cobham for the upcoming challenge in Manchester, which sees the Blues go in search of their third consecutive away victory.

The defending Premier League champions will provide a stern test, but as we saw in the reverse fixture – a pulsating 4-4 draw at Stamford Bridge – Chelsea posses the attacking firepower to hurt any team.

Former Man City man Cole Palmer was the hero that Sunday in November, scoring a 95th-minute penalty to earn the Blues a point.

That was the first time Palmer faced his former club after his switch to Chelsea last summer, and Pochettino is confident the England international will handle his return to City, who he spent 13 years with at Academy and first-team level.

'He's not the type of player who feels he needs to prove anything,' the Chelsea head coach said. 'He is very grateful for his period at Manchester City, but he wanted to find another challenge.

'He is playing a lot of games here and he is going back there to try to play and perform for him and his team.'

The Chelsea boss received a timely fitness boost ahead of the trip to City, with goalkeeper Robert Sanchez available for selection following injury.

He will now compete with Djordje Petrovic for a starting role, which is the competition for places Pochettino has wanted throughout the season.

'It’s good for him to be back and you never know what can happen in football. It’s better to have the players available as soon as possible and ready to play if we decide to choose them.

Enzo Fernandez, meanwhile, will be looking to make it three goals in three matches at the Etihad. The Argentine struck a stunning free-kick away at Aston Villa and rounded off our victory over Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park.

Enzo's role has come under focus following back-to-back goals, but Pochettino doesn't want to limit the 23-year-old's influence by forcing him to operate in a specific area of the pitch.

'We've always known he is a player with the capacity to use his quality in our build-up, but also that he could arrive in the opposition box with the ability to score,' explained the Chelsea boss.

'He now has the capacity to move, to run. He is improving a lot. That is why now we can see him building up, but also scoring goals like in the last minute against Palace, where he ran 70 or 60 metres.

'He is improving a lot. It is all about time. He is a player with the capacity to play box-to-box but also score goals with the technique that he has.'

Away from the group preparing for the trip to Manchester, there was the welcome sight of both Marc Cucurella and Romeo Lavia on the grass.

Both players have been sidelined since December due to injuries sustained against Everton and Crystal Palace respectively.

But they have been continuing their rehabilitation programmes at Cobham and were undertaking individual work this morning at our training base.