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Chelsea return to action later this week, with the second international break of the season almost finished. The Blues travel to Nottingham Forest for the early kick-off on Saturday afternoon as they bid for their third consecutive win in all competitions.
Enzo Maresca's side came out victorious at home to Liverpool before the break, with a stoppage time winner from Estevao Willian seeing them add to the three points they secured against Benfica a few days before. Even with the two-week period of players jetting off around the world to represent their countries, Maresca will be hoping the win over the Reds can be a springboard for Chelsea to build some much-needed momentum.
The Blues head coach will be hoping all of his players off on international duty can come through these final days unscathed, fitness-wise, with the Italian already having plenty of injury problems to contend with. And with that being said, football.london takes a detailed look at what would be a dream week from a Chelsea perspective.
Fernandez injury update
We're still awaiting further news on Enzo Fernandez after the Chelsea midfielder withdrew from the Argentina squad over the weekend due to an injury problem. In a statement, Argentina said: "The Chelsea footballer Enzo Fernandez has been withdrawn from the tour due to synovitis in his right knee."
Fernandez is now back in England while his Argentina teammates prepare for a friendly against Puerto Rico in the early hours of Wednesday morning. If we are unable to get an update before Friday, then Maresca should tell us more during his pre-match press conference that day as he looks ahead to his side's trip to Forest.
The Chelsea head coach is already without Cole Palmer until November time, with the 23-year-old attacker set to miss the next four games - at least - with a groin injury, as football.london reported last week. So Maresca will be hoping for some positive news regarding Fernandez ahead of a busy few weeks of fixtures for Chelsea.
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Four stars train
In an ideal world, Maresca would see four Chelsea stars in training this week with the chance of them being in the squad in Nottingham at the weekend. Andrey Santos and Tosin Adarabioyo both missed the win against Liverpool before the break and Maresca hinted they could be back for this weekend's match.
Meanwhile, Reece James withdrew from the England squad last week but the injury sustained by the Chelsea captain is not thought to be serious, football.london understands. The decision to withdraw the 25-year-old was viewed as a precautionary one and it is not expected to be anything more than a short-term issue.
Benoit Badiashile limped off in the win against Liverpool, but again, that - to assistant coach Willy Caballero's admission - was to try and prevent a more serious problem. Maresca will be hoping the quartet will train later this week to give him a huge boost ahead of the trip to the City Ground on Saturday afternoon.
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