Chelsea stars Levi Colwill and Enzo Fernandez fire clear injury message for Leicester amid fears

Levi Colwill and Enzo Fernandez are among the Chelsea players revelling in being back in club training after the international break. Importantly for manager Enzo Maresca, both players head into Saturday's match against Leicester City with minor worries.

Fernandez, often one who needs managing carefully following his time away, was in action for Argentina on Wednesday morning, playing all 90 minutes in a 1-0 win over Peru. He and Moises Caicedo are usually the last to return to Cobham following trips to South America for duty with their country's.

That poses a dilemma for the coach as Chelsea attempt to balance selection demands and fatigue from travel. Caicedo, himself, was playing on Tuesday as his Ecuador side also won 1-0 in World Cup qualifying.

Both players had a key role in the draw to Arsenal prior to the break as Caicedo anchored the midfield before Fernandez came on and assisted Pedro Neto's equaliser. Caicedo, in particular, has been in top form this season, continuing where he has been for most of 2024.

Fernandez has found things harder, dropping out of the starting XI for Premier League matches recently. Maresca has instead prefered to go with Romeo Lavia next to Caicedo in the search for balance and defensive solidity.

Lavia raised some alarm when left unused by Belgium in week one of the break before Dominic Tedesco revealed that a knock picked up whilst playing for Chelsea against Arsenal had left him sidelined. Those worries were short lived as he got back to business under Maresca before the match away to Leicester.

It leaves some fear over all three midfielders for Maresca, who may be forced to turn to Renato Veiga - more naturally a defender - in the Midlands. Luckily, both Fernandez and Colwill, who withdrew from the England squad due to a niggle, appear to be in good spirits.

Posting online after Thursday's session, Fernandez wrote, "We are back [wink face emoji] on his Instagram story with an image of himself running with the ball. Colwill issued a similar sentiment. "We back [raised hands emoji]" he posted.

How are the two feeling, plus Cole Palmer - another to back out of England's final Nations League camp before the arrival of Thomas Tuchel next year - "To be honest, after we played Arsenal I left for one week [on holiday] so I don't know about the conversations between the club and the international teams," explained Maresca.

"As I said, some of them are better, some we will test today. But overall, for sure, they are much better." And will the Italian have to settle for some players not being fully ready? "For sure, the ones that are going to play [against Leicester] are not going to be 100 per cent because they are human beings and when you play two games in South America and you have to play again, even if you are 20 to 25 years old, it doesn't matter and you are tired because you are a human being," he admitted. "But hopefully we can find the right balance [in our midfield]."

football.london Chelsea WhatsApp channel

Want to keep up to date with the breaking and important Chelsea stories whilst on the move? Well now you can!

Click this link to follow the football.london Chelsea WhatsApp channel, where you'll be kept up to date on the latest Blues news wherever you are.

Just remember to turn on the notifications once you've followed, and you won't miss a beat!