Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Marc Cucurella and Trevoh Chalobah were part of the travelling party, as were Reece James, Wesley Fofana and N’Golo Kante as the injured players joined the rest of the group to continue their rehabilitation.

With many of Graham Potter’s senior players still involved in the FIFA World Cup in Qatar not far from our Abu Dhabi base, numbers have been bolstered by our Under-21s squad including the likes of Lewis Hall, Charlie Webster and Cesare Casadei.

• See the travelling squad in full

• Thiago Silva previews South Korea test

• February Premier League fixture news

It was a late flight eastwards from London, with players and staff able to enjoy England's last-16 victory over Senegal before boarding the plane and travelling through the night, arriving mid-morning local time.

Once in the Middle East, James was involved with the team in a light evening session that featured stretching, jogging and a series of games designed to keep the spirits high and get the legs moving after the seven-hour flight from England.

The Blues will be back out on the grass tomorrow as the hard work continues in earnest ahead of our friendly on Sunday against Aston Villa, which is available to watch live and for free on The 5th Stand and chelseafc.com in the UK and Ireland. If other countries become available, those will be announced here.

Tickets for the game are also still available.

You can enjoy the best photos and videos from our first day in Abu Dhabi below: