“Been a while”- Reece James shares Ben Chilwell disappointment as Chelsea duo near return from recovery

Reece James shares Ben Chilwell disappointment as Chelsea duo step up their recovery

Speaking to the club’s official website (h/t Football.London), Chelsea star Reece James talked about Ben Chilwell and shared his disappointment and plans as the duo step up their recovery from respective injuries.

James picked up a knee injury at San Siro playing against AC Milan in the Champions League on October 11. His injury was serious enough to make him miss the World Cup.

Only a few days before the tournament, Chilwell picked up a hamstring injury while playing against Dinamo Zagreb in the Champions League. That setback ruled him out of a trip to Qatar with England as well.

In the latest reports, it has been revealed that the fullback duo is recovering well and should be part of the team when Chelsea resume their season with a league game against Bournemouth at Stamford Bridge on December 27.

Here’s what James said about his and Chilwell’s injury and disappointment (h/t Football.London):

“Last season we got injured at pretty much the same point and it’s not ideal, it’s definitely not what you want. Especially as we both missed a major tournament as well but you can only deal with the cards you got dealt. It’s tough and we have to accept it and look at the positives.”

James returned to training earlier this week during the club’s mid-season training camp in Abu Dhabi. They are also scheduled to play a friendly against Aston Villa on Sunday. Here’s what the Englishman said when asked about how it feels to come back on the pitch (h/t Football.London):

“It’s been a while. Before getting back out here it’s been frustrating, missing the World Cup and then it taking longer than I first hoped. It’s good to be back with the team.

“It was my first session today which was light contact. It’s good to be back in a nice place with good weather.”

We dearly missed the services in the attacking third from James after his injury. The 22-year-old is pretty good defensively as well, which adds a different dimension to the team on that right-hand side.

Chilwell, on the other hand, wasn’t able to play regularly as his minutes had to be managed after recovering from a major ACL injury in the summer.

More Chelsea News:

• AC Milan readying bid to sign Chelsea winger Hakim Ziyech on loan with option to buy
• Chelsea star Christian Pulisic backed to be the USA’s best player of all time by former Liverpool goalkeeper
• Arsenal and Chelsea are set to battle it out to sign Porto winger Pepe

We can only hope that both are doing well and are on course to be fit and ready when we resume our season. If the Blues are to challenge for a spot in the top four, James and Chilwell on either flank playing regularly would bring the best bet.