Four Chelsea players have returned to training at their Cobham base as Xabi Alonso's side prepare to face AFC Bournemouth in the Premier League.

Chelsea return to domestic action after the extended three-week international break, hosting the Cherries, who are one of three sides yet to record a league win this season.

Alonso's side struggled in September, winless in all three league matches, with their only win coming against Leeds United in the Carabao Cup.

Chelsea have struggled with the absence of key players, including Reece James, Moises Caicedo, and Joao Pedro, in recent matches. Meanwhile, Cole Palmer has been nursing a minor injury that saw him withdraw from England duty.

The international break has given Alonso a chance to reset, give his non-international stars some time off, and analyse what needs addressing before preparing to face Bournemouth.

It remains unclear whether the likes of James, Caicedo and Joao Pedro will be available to face Bournemouth, with Alonso expected to provide an update in his pre-match press conference on Friday.

As training at Cobham continues, Alonso has welcomed back several international stars into the group.

Mike Penders, Jorrel Hato, Estevao Willian and Pedro Neto were all involved in Wednesday's session.

Chelsea will be joined by more international stars in the coming days, including Morgan Rogers and Romeo Lavia, who both impressed while representing their nations - England and Belgium, respectively.

To make the most of the international break, Chelsea organised a behind-closed-doors friendly against Championship side Portsmouth for those who stayed behind at Cobham.

Unfortunately, the Blues lost 2-0 at Cobham.

However, the scoreline didn't concern Chelsea, with Alonso's side seeing it as a training exercise. The squad that played Pompey was made up of players continuing their return to full fitness, along with several academy players bulking out the numbers.

One player keen to feature in October is Marco Palestra. He is yet to make his official debut for the club after an injury setback. 

Chelsea's key area to address is defence. They have conceded 12 goals in their first five league games, a record that will make it hard for the Blues to win if they concede at least two goals per game on average.

That proved the case in the 3-0 defeat to Brentford prior to the international break, which Chelsea need to bounce back from in their first attempt at Saturday's home clash against Marco Rose's Bournemouth.