Two new Chelsea players spotted with the squad for the first time in 2024 ahead of Nottingham Forest

Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino will hope they remain in charge of their destiny when it comes to securing European football after 90 minutes at the City Ground against Nottingham Forest.

The injury list is beginning to clear up after what has genuinely been one of the most challenging campaigns in recent times. They have suffered over 55 different injuries to players across board and the consequence of that has been the inconsistency in the results. 

But last weekend against West Ham, Raheem Sterling who missed the last two games returned as well as French forward Christopher Nkunku who has had a nightmare first season in the Premier League. 

This week another two return with club captain Reece James having joined first-team training and Pochettino confirming he could be involved. The Argentinian said when asked about his captain

“We have to check on something later today but there is a chance he could be involved in the game tomorrow.

LondonWorld sources say James was part of the team that travelled to Nottingham and will be in the squad for the first time this year. The last time he played for the club was against Everton late last year before being forced to take surgery on his hamstring. 

Another player who has travelled with the squad for the first time this year is Lesley Ugochukwu. The promising midfielder has played in 10 games since joining in the summer but he's struggled with hamstring issues and missed 26 games in total for the club in the last 133 days. 

His return will give manager Pochettino the option of giving the likes of Conor Gallagher, Moises Caicedo and Palmer some rest if he wants.