Chelsea midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek has been out of action since May last year after injuring himself in a charity tie against New England Revolution just before our Europa League final against Arsenal.
The young midfielder ruptured his Achilles in what has been a long-term injury, and the 23-year-old is now returning to training as he anticipates a return to the team.
Chelsea manager Frank Lampard has now revealed that the 23-year-old has resumed full training with the first team, but will have to gain match fitness with the U23 squad and is targeting a few more weeks for him to gain match fitness and return to action.
Lampard said: “He had his first session with us fully on Friday, which was a light session and that suited him. He’s got a fair way to go still, and I’m not being pessimistic there. He probably needs a full week’s training with us, a tough week, and then he’ll need some Under-23 games.
“The break comes at a nice time for him, because it’s a nice time for him to work, and we’ll gauge it at the other end of that break and see where we are.
“I don’t care who you are, you’ll miss Ruben and his abilities, his natural physique, ability to travel with the ball, move it well, the goals he started to score last year – which have to be a big part of his game.
“Of course we’ll miss a player of that level and it put a smile on everyone’s face to see him back, because he’s popular with his team-mates as well.”