Chelsea given huge boost as N’Golo Kante and Edouard Mendy take part in training ahead of Champions League final showdown with Manchester City
- Chelsea have been handed a huge fitness boost ahead of Saturday
- The Blues take on Manchester City in the Champions League final
- N’Golo Kante and Edouard Mendy returned to training on Wednesday
- The pair have been struggling with injuries but look set to be fit to play
Chelsea have been handed a huge fitness boost ahead of the Champions League final with Edouard Mendy and N’Golo Kante returning to training on Wednesday.
The goalkeeper and midfielder had been injury concerns going into Saturday’s clash against Manchester City but now look set to be fit to play.
Kante had been struggling with a hamstring problem, which he picked up in the league game with Leicester while Mendy hurt his ribs in the final fixture of the season at Aston Villa.
N’Golo Kante (left) and Edouard Mendy (right) returned to Chelsea training on Wednesday
Mendy was a doubt heading into the showpiece final with Manchester City in Portugal
The big keeper was back in training on Wednesday, adding a huge boost to Chelsea’s hopes
Mendy has been the No 1 ‘keeper since his summer arrival and Thomas Tuchel was confident that he would be available to start when speaking to the press earlier this week.
‘We hope to have him back in training on Wednesday,’ said Tuchel. ‘We had a huge improvement in the management of pain. We need a further update on Wednesday.
Tenacious midfielder Kante was also in the thick of the action on Wednesday morning
The Frenchman was put through his paces with the senior squad during the training session
‘Edou will play if he is fit and if he is not fit on Wednesday we will try on Thursday. And we will try on Friday and be always reasonable and take the responsibility for this decision.
‘At the same time, we have trust if he cannot make it we have a strong guy on the bench with Kepa, who will take his place.
‘So now the race is on. We are very happy, first of all, that the images don’t show that the injury is too serious. At the moment we are positive but every hour counts.
‘Hopefully the team around Edou and he himself can do enough and can help him enough to be on the pitch. It will be a good boost for us.’
The Chelsea boss was also positive about Kante’s chances of being fit.
Mendy hurt his ribs while making a save in Chelsea’s fixture against Aston Villa on Sunday
Kante had picked up a hamstring problem in the league fixture with Leicester last week
Thomas Tuchel is confident both players will be fit to start against Manchester City
‘With N’Golo nothing has changed,’ Tuchel added. ‘I think about changing my tactics now and stop asking about N’Golo, just put him on the pitch in Wednesday’s training and put him on the pitch when the game starts on Saturday.
‘Maybe I will not speak to the doctors and physios any more so I hear no more doubts and no more complaints.
‘Maybe I have to think about changing the tactics. But it looks good and I hope it stays like that.’