James, Santos, Palmer: Triple Chelsea fitness update as Rosenior confirms team news vs Leeds
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Liam Rosenior has provided fitness updates on three key Chelsea players, Reece James, Cole Palmer, and Andrey Santos, ahead of Tuesday's Premier League home match against Leeds United.
James missed Chelsea's away win over Wolves last Saturday due to what Rosenior described as a pain management issue.
It was the second consecutive game that the England international missed due to a small knock he picked up in training.
The good news is that James has recovered from the injury, but he has unfortunately come down with an illness, which could put his potential return this weekend in question.
"The staff have been down with it – my coaching staff, the staff around the club," Rosenior said on Monday.
"Fortunately, only Reece from the playing staff is affected at the moment.
"It’s something that we just keep trying to work on; I think it’s the same for everyone at the moment."
On the other hand, Palmer and Santos are both in contention to play, despite the latter's ankle problem that he picked up during the win at Molineux Stadium.
"Cole is available for tomorrow," Rosenior revealed.
"Andrey Santos trained today. He’s a soldier and he’s absolutely fine.
"He had a swollen ankle (against Wolves), it wasn’t a great tackle on him, but he’s fine for tomorrow."
Rosenior also provided some positive updates on another pair, who, despite being unlikely to be in the squad against Leeds, could hopefully be back in the team soon.
"Tosin (Adarabioyo) is looking good, he trained today and it’s great to have him in and around the group," the Chelsea head coach added.
"Romeo (Lavia), we have a really detailed plan for him, and he has been on the training pitch with us in the last two days, which has been great to see."
The two players are nursing thigh injuries.
Adarabioyo sustained a hamstring injury during Chelsea's win over Brentford last month, while Lavia has been out since November due to a quad issue.
Gerry Crisandy is a freelance writer who has covered Chelsea for many years. His work has been published on The Chelsea Chronicle and Pride of London. He grew up idolising Michael Ballack and is a firm believer in expected goals.