Calum McFarlane has been working hard to prepare Chelsea for the end-of-season run-in, with European football on the line.
Calum McFarlane has been putting his players through their paces ahead of Chelsea’s clash against Nottingham Forest. The Blues will look to climb the Premier League table when they lock horns with Vitor Pereira’s side at Stamford Bridge on Monday afternoon.
The west Londoners conceded significant ground in the race for qualification to the UEFA Champions League under Liam Rosenior, falling to eighth place. With four games to go, Chelsea are nearly as many points adrift of Aston Villa in fifth as they are from Forest, who are in a relegation battle.
The Blues could sink into the bottom half of the table before they even face the East Midlands outfit, with Brentford, Fulham, Everton, and Sunderland also vying for a place in Europe. Fortunately for Chelsea, they appear to have turned a corner under McFarlane, who was appointed as interim head coach last month.
The 38-year-old led the west Londoners back to winning ways last weekend, defeating Leeds United in the FA Cup semi-final at Wembley Stadium. Chelsea looked revitalized under McFarlane, who’s now had a bit more time to work with the players and better communicate his ideas.
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So, with that being said, football.london has looked at the five things you may have missed in training at Cobham this week.
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Pedro and Palmer overcome knocks
Joao Pedro and Cole Palmer appear to have overcome their respective knocks. Last weekend, the former, who was previously nursing a thigh problem, made his first start for Chelsea since the defeat to Manchester City at Stamford Bridge.
Meanwhile, the latter, who missed the defeat to Brighton at the Amex Stadium due a hamstring injury, appeared off the bench in the FA Cup semi-final. McFarlane will be delighted to have the Chelsea duo fit and firing ahead of the end-of-season run-in.
Secret Chelsea signing shines again
James Hillson was on the winning team in training… again! On Thursday evening, Cole Palmer reposted a picture uploaded by the 25-year-old goalkeeper to his Instagram story, where he and the likes of Moises Caicedo posed for a group shot after winning a small-sided game.
The mystery shot-stopper in question is Hillson, who’s been on the Blues’ books since last summer. He, who, according to his LinkedIn profile, holds a UEFA B Coaching Licence, spent about six years at Arsenal before being released.
Last season, Hillson featured four times for Salisbury in the National League South. It’s not the first time he’s been spotted in Chelsea training, having seemingly taken up a role as a goalkeeper coach at Cobham.
McFarlane drops starting lineup hint
Fernandez was also spotted in training at Cobham this week. The 25-year-old midfielder, who was at the heart of the action, was often pictured wearing an orange bib, alongside the likes of Palmer, Romeo Lavia, and Liam Delap, which suggests they could all start against Forest.
Pedro Neto, Wesley Fofana, Jorrel Hato, and Pedro were seen in orange bibs as well, but there were times when they’d be in a yellow bib too. Although McFarlane showed his cards against Leeds at Wembley Stadium, the interim Chelsea boss could have a trick up his sleeve on Monday afternoon.
Neto starts a water fight
Making most of the good weather in Surrey, Neto started a little water fight during a break between training drills. The 26-year-old winger, who’s become part of the core group at Cobham, will hope to pick up from where he left off last weekend when Chelsea face Forest.
Chelsea duo absent
Alejandro Garnacho and Josh Acheampong were not pictured in training. The former was replaced by Palmer midway through the second half of the FA Cup semi-final, while the latter was an unused substitute.
