Chelsea are hopeful Moises Caicedo and Noni Madueke will be back fit for their home clash against Aston Villa this weekend after the pair missed the goalless draw with Bournemouth
- Moises Caicedo and Noni Madueke became latest Blues stars on sidelines
- The pair returned injured from international duty and missed draw with Cherries
- Listen to the latest episode of Mail Sport’s podcast It’s All Kicking Off!
Chelsea hope to have Moises Caicedo and Noni Madueke back to face Aston Villa on Sunday and see Armando Broja take a big step towards full fitness by playing for their under-21s in the next week.
Midfielder Caicedo and winger Madueke missed Chelsea’s goalless draw against Bournemouth on Sunday after returning from international duty with knee and muscle issues respectively, the pair becoming the latest Blues stars to join the injured list.
But their omissions were precautionary and their problems not considered serious enough to see them miss more than the one game in a fitness boost for head coach Mauricio Pochettino who was without 12 players at Bournemouth.
The Vitality Stadium stalemate once again highlighted Chelsea’s troubles in front of goal but Pochettino may soon have a second No.9 option in Broja.
He has not played for Chelsea competitively since before the World Cup after rupturing his ACL in a mid-season friendly against Aston Villa.
Chelsea are hoping to have both Moises Caicedo (L) and Noni Madueke back fit to face Villa
Boss Mauricio Pochettino is sweating over the fitness of a handful of stars this season
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But he has been back in full training and is poised to ramp up his comeback bid with an appearance for Chelsea’s second string.
Chelsea have games against Luton, Manchester City and Northampton Town over the next seven days and Broja is expected to feature in at least one of the games.
Broja followed up successful loan spells at Vitesse Arnhem and Southampton by becoming a regular part of Chelsea’s first-team setup last season before his injury.
Pochettino name-checked the Albanian unprompted last month while discussing Chelsea’s attempts to strengthen their squad earlier this season in a clear indication he intends to count on Broja when he returns.
Armando Broja is another name who is stepping up his efforts to return to the fold
Pochettino said: ‘We are looking at all of the options that we can manage on the market. But I think at the same time, we are keeping one or two eyes on Armando Broja. We cannot forget him. We cannot stop him. We really believe in him – we know how important he can be for Chelsea.
‘Sometimes we cannot go for some player that maybe we already have. We need to be patient and adapt our squad and get positive results while waiting for Armando to be fully fit.’
Chelsea are also optimistic that defender Benoit Badiashile will be ready to make his return to action in around a fortnight. The centre-back has not played since May after suffering a hamstring injury.
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