Mateo Kovačić returns to Chelsea training but not expected to feature against Everton

As confirmed by the Chelsea official website, Mateo Kovačić returned to training on Friday joining those who did not play the full 90 against Manchester United in a full session at Cobham. (Those who did only had a recovery session.)

Kovačić had been sidelined with an ankle sprain for the last two weeks, with initial fears that he might not again play this season fortunately allayed. He is however not expected to feature on Sunday just yet, as we take on Everton at Goodison.

Thomas Tuchel did have slightly better news on Andreas Christensen and, for what it’s worth, Ross Barkley, who hasn’t played since the start of January though not exactly because of any injury. They both took part in Friday’s training as well.

“For Kova, it is too early [...] Callum Hudson-Odoi as well. Maybe Andreas Christensen, but let’s see after he was ill. And the same for Ross Barkley. Let’s wait until the day after tomorrow (Saturday) to see how they feel.”

-Thomas Tuchel; source: Football.London

The most important thing is getting Kovačić back fully fit for the FA Cup final in a couple weeks.