In a season full of injury woes, Liam Rosenior has been given a huge boost with the return of a crucial first team player to training with the side
There have certainly been some lows for Chelsea this season. Out of the Carabao Cup with a whimper to rivals Arsenal, a change of manager, drawing with Qarabag, failing to push towards a title challenge, and so on.
One thing that hasn’t helped and isn’t really anybody's fault has been injuries. So far, Cole Palmer has only played 1,411 minutes this season, which is less than 16 full games, and we are in March.
As he so often does, Wesley Fofana has missed a lot of games, albeit he has been more available of late. Wingers Estevao and Jamie Gittens have also been sidelined, as well as left back Marc Cucurella of late.
One other player who has been injured — all season in fact — is central defender Levi Colwill, who suffered a cruel ACL injury on the eve of the season.
But there is good news. Indeed, the 23-year-old has returned to training ahead of the Champions League round of 16 first leg away to Paris Saint-Germain.
Now, there is no chance he will be part of the squad for that game, nor for any game before the March international break, but the fact that he’s back training is an absolutely huge boost for both him and the team.
Perhaps it means we could see Colwill before the end of the season, all being well. To be back in training after seven months is very impressive in and of itself.
No doubt Liam Rosenior will not be wanting to take any risks with him, particularly if Chelsea have nothing tangible to play for. It would not be worth risking his fitness for the sake of one or two games.
But it is still exciting to see him in training. It’s easy to forget just how highly rated he is both by Chelsea and in the wider footballing world.
It’s such a shame Colwill got this injury in a World Cup year particularly. He had been in both of Thomas Tuchel’s first two squads as manager, and played 90 minutes of a friendly against Senegal back in June.
Still, what's in the past is in the past, and now he can look forward, onwards and upwards. You would imagine that with his style of play, he will be a crucial player under Rosenior next season. His ability on the ball and defensively is simply on another level than any of Chelsea's other central defenders.
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