Chelsea handed two huge injury boosts ahead of Tottenham derby | OneFootball

Chelsea have been buoyed by the return to first-team training of Cole Palmer and Noni Madueke on Friday ahead of next week's Premier League clash with Tottenham Hotspur.

Palmer sat out Chelsea's defeat to Arsenal before the March international break and was thought to be a concern as he still hadn't been spotted on Cobham's pitches by Thursday. Madueke has spent even longer on the sidelines, sitting out the past six weeks with a hamstring injury he sustained against Brighton on Valentine's Day.

Jackson has also made a welcome return to training in recent days following a two-month lay-off with a muscular issue to significantly bolster Chelsea's frontline ahead of the season's conclusion.

The Blues were painfully blunt in their most recent outing, mustering just eight shots in a 1-0 loss at the Emirates Stadium - the club's lowest tally in a top-flight match all season.

After that limp reverse, Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca lamented the absence of his three first-choice forwards. "It's a huge difference if you think of the three players with most goals for us are Cole Palmer, Nicolas Jackson and Noni Madueke," he sighed. "Not one of them was on the pitch today. For two of them, they have already been out a long time, so it is normal that offensively we struggle a little bit."

Nicolas Jackson has not featured for Chelsea since 2 February / Visionhaus/GettyImages

The trio boast 30 of Chelsea's 52 Premier League goals this season. The team's next highest scorer is left-back Marc Cucurella with four.

Palmer and Madueke both made their return to training on Friday, although the rest of the available squad was in action the day before as part of a punishment enforced by Maresca. The team had been scheduled to enjoy a day off but were dragged into Cobham after the senior players were thumped 3-0 in a training game against a group of kids from the club's under-21 and under-16 sides, The Athletic report.

Maresca is said to have been more impressed with the showing on Friday which was no doubt helped by the inclusion of Palmer and Madueke.

Both forwards and Jackson will likely be involved in Chelsea's London derby with Spurs which is scheduled for next Thursday.