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Chelsea play against Aston Villa in the Premier League on Saturday (April 27) at Villa Park. Ahead of the clash, the Blues have received a massive injury boost as captain Reece James and midfielder Cole Palmer returned to first-team training on Thursday.
The 24-year-old English right-back sustained a hamstring injury and has been out since December 2023. He has made just nine appearances this season under Mauricio Pochettino. James reportedly underwent surgery and was expected not to be back in the field for the rest of the season.
However, last week, Reece James uploaded an Instagram story, that read:
"I've been gone a while but I'm doing well. Really well. The journey has been long and tough but nothing I couldn't handle. I'm in a good place, the comeback is on, more hungry than ever. Stay well in the meantime and see u soon."
Cole Palmer, meanwhile, was out for only one match last week due to illness as the Blues lost 5-0 against London rivals Arsenal.
Palmer has pulled off an excellent performance for Chelsea this season since arriving from Manchester City last summer. He scored a hattrick within 29 minutes and added another goal in their Premier League clash against Everton on April 15. The Blues won the game 6-0 at home.
The Englishman now has scored 20 goals, including nine penalties, and provided nine assists in 28 games in the league this season.
Chelsea were eliminated from the FA Cup
The Blues' journey in the FA Cup came to an end after losing 1-0 against Manchester City in the semi-final at Wembley Stadium on April 20. This marked Chelsea's 11th elimination from the semis in the FA Cup. The Sky Blues, on the other hand, reached the final in consecutive years for the third time in the club's history
Although the Blues had a few chances to open the scoring, City's Bernardo Silva netted the only goal of the match in the 84th minute. The west London side had 10 attempts on goal with five being on target. City had 3/14 attempts on target.
With this elimination, Chelsea's hopes of winning any silverware have come to an end as they already lost in the Carabao Cup final against Liverpool. They are ninth in the Premier League with 47 points in 32 matches, three points behind seventh-placed Newcastle United.
