Chelsea is set to be without their star midfielder N’Golo Kante for the Champions League trip to Ajax on Wednesday night after he missed the final session on Tuesday before the game, with the players scheduled to fly out to Amsterdam after training.
Ross Barkley will also miss the game after he limped off during Chelsea’s Premier League win over Newcastle at the weekend and is suffering from an ankle problem.
Kante sustained a groin injury in the warm-up for France’s Euro 2020 qualifying clash with Iceland and did not return to Chelsea until after Les Bleus’ game with Turkey on Monday and has made just four appearances in the league this season due to injury
Chelsea was handed a boost as defender Emerson Palmieri took part in the session, warming up with his team-mates before doing some ball work.
Antonio Rudiger was also involved after Frank Lampard made it clear on Friday that there was still ‘work to be done’ before he reached match fitness.
Rudiger has been out of action for most of the season, managing just 45 minutes during the game against Wolves in September so far.
Other absentees include Andreas Christensen who picked up a groin injury while on international duty with the Denmark national team and is expected to be ruled out for two weeks.
Ruben Loftus-Cheek is sidelined with a long term injury he picked up last season.
Chelsea travels to Ajax third in their Champions League group, level on points with Valencia, with their opponents sitting top. A win or draw in Amsterdam would be a big boost to Chelsea as Lampard aims to guide his inexperienced squad into the knockout stages.
