N'Golo Kante played 60 minutes in a behind-closed-doors friendly this afternoon as he nears a return to action for Chelsea.

Kante has not played for the Blues since mid-August, with a hamstring injury sustained against Tottenham Hotspur keeping him out for seven months now.

His expertise in the centre of the pitch has been heavily missed and his return to the grass is a huge boost for Graham Potter's side ahead of the Premier League's final few months, and a stellar Champions League quarter-final with Real Madrid in April.

Goals from Dion Rankine, Silko Thomas and Malik Mothersille saw our development squad defeat Charlton Athletic 3-0 in a friendly on Friday afternoon.

N'Golo has been training with the squad for a few weeks now and will look to continue his return from injury in the coming days, before the full squad return from the current international break early next week.

Chelsea play Aston Villa in our next Premier League fixture, on Saturday 1 April.