Penders was out of action in the past week due to an injury he sustained in Belgium training.
Chelsea goalkeeper Mike Penders has returned to training with Belgium after missing their previous two Nations League matches due to a thigh injury.
The 21-year-old did not travel to Italy for Belgium’s 2-0 Nations League win last Friday and remained out of the squad for their 1-0 defeat to France on Monday.
After sustaining a quadriceps injury, Penders spent last week recovering at Belgium’s national team training centre.
The timing was unfortunate, as he was expected to compete with Manchester United’s Senne Lamens for the number one goalkeeper spot amid Thibaut Courtois’ absence.
On a more positive note, the fact that Belgium did not send him back to London indicated that the injury was minor.
Penders back on the training pitch
Penders’ return to national team training on Thursday afternoon proved it was the case. Alongside Leandro Trossard, who also missed the previous two games due to a heel injury, Penders took part in the team’s preparation for Friday’s Nations League clash against Turkiye.
Fellow Blue Romeo Lavia was also present in training. The young midfielder was substituted off with a cramp during the game against France, but he confirmed he was fine in a post-match interview.
Lavia received plaudits for his strong performance in that game, which was his first career start for Belgium, despite the narrow loss to France. Belgium head coach Mark van Bommel described the Chelsea midfielder's display as “fantastic”.
Penders and Lavia will stay with Belgium for two more matches, against Turkiye and a reverse fixture against France, before heading back to west London. Chelsea will return to action against Bournemouth on October 10.
With Penders back on the pitch, Jamie Gittens becomes the only addition to Chelsea’s injury list so far during the international break.
The winger had to leave England Under-21s’ camp after sustaining an ankle injury during their 4-2 win over Kazakhstan last week.
Gittens joined Reece James (hamstring), Cole Palmer (muscle), Joao Pedro (knee), and Moises Caicedo (calf) on the injury list.
Marco Palestra and Emmanuel Emegha, on the other hand, are among the players who have resumed training under Xabi Alonso at Cobham since Monday.
Injuries have prevented the two summer signings from making their official Chelsea debuts so far, but they will hope to feature against Bournemouth after the positive development.
Aside from these two, the other players who have trained at Cobham include Wesley Fofana, Levi Colwill, Danny Welbeck, Pep Chavarria, and Malo Gusto.
