Benoît Badiashile, Roméo Lavia, Armando Broja ‘getting closer’ to full fitness — report

Mauricio Pochettino joked that he might have something like four players to work with during the international break, thanks to call-ups and injuries, but it looks like he has a few more than that, with those available turning up at Cobham yesterday (Monday) for a bit of training.

As reported by the official Chelsea website, the likes of Thiago Silva, Raheem Sterling, and Robert Sánchez were present (and Marc Cucurella can be seen in the background of one pictures). And they were joined by a trio of players who are “getting closer” to taking their names off the injured reserve: Benoît Badiashile, Roméo Lavia, and Armando Broja (though Lavia technically is just in need of a preseason).

Badiashile was one of our better performers last season, and while the defense hasn’t been a huge problem this season, his return should give Pochettino a few more options (both in terms of personnel in terms of formation). Same goes for the highly rated Lavia in midfield (there are some who seem to rate him quite highly; others not so much), and maybe Broja can bring with him a pair of finishing boots and help ease our troubles in that regard.

Presumably these players will all get some time off later this week and the coming weekend, before we all start regrouping and getting ready for Bournemouth on the 17th.