Chelsea Team News: Conte Confirms Triple Injury Boost + Zouma Update

Chelsea get back to Premier League action after the international break when they take on Middlesbrough at the Riverside Stadium on Sunday lunchtime.

Ahead of the game, Antonio Conte has been speaking to the media at his pre-match press conference this afternoon and he’s given reporters a team news and injury update.

The Italian coach was pleased to confirm a huge injury boost with the news that Diego Costa has been passed fit and is available for selection for the trip to the north east this weekend.

Costa picked up a minor groin injury during the comprehensive 5-0 win over Everton at Stamford Bridge two weeks ago and was forced to withdraw from the Spain squad during the recent international break.

However, Conte has confirmed that the striker returned to full training on Wednesday and is now expected to feature against Middlesbrough unless he suffers any setback in training before Sunday’s game.

There was also a positive update on Eden Hazard as the attacker has also been declared fit this weekend after limping out of Belgium’s win over Estonia earlier this week with an apparent ankle injury.

In a triple boost, Conte also confirmed that Cesc Fabregas is in ‘good shape’ and is back in contention after finally recovering from a thigh injury that’s kept the Spanish midfielder out of action for over six weeks.

Conte: 'Fabregas is in a good shape and is available for Sunday.' #CFC

— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) November 18, 2016

There was also an update on the fitness of Kurt Zouma with Conte revealing that while the defender is looking sharp in training, he feels the youngster still needs more game-time with the under-23’s before he’ll be in contention for his first team return.

The Italian boss told Chelseafc.com:

‘The news is that I have all of the players available. They are in good form. Costa had a bit of an injury after the Everton game, he started to train with us on Wednesday and his physical condition is good. We still have tomorrow to look at the situation tactically but at the moment he can play. Eden also recovered very well.’

‘I’m happy to have the availability of all my central defenders, it’s important Kurt is with us,’

‘He is in good form in training but it’s normal after a bad injury that you need time to recover. In this period we prefer him to play with the Under-23s, which he will do on Monday. It’s important for him to have game time and it’s fantastic to have another great player like Kurt available.’

So it looks as though the Chelsea squad is in great shape as they head to the Riverside on Sunday looking to extend their recent superb form and keep pace with leaders Liverpool.