Chelsea provide huge Christopher Nkunku injury update ahead of FA Cup semi-final

Chelsea have confirmed that French forward Christopher Nkunku has returned to partial team training as he nears his comeback from a hamstring injury.

After missing the first half of the season with a knee injury, Nkunku managed just ten appearances before going down with a hamstring problem which has kept him sidelined since February.

Little was known about the severity of Nkunku's latest issue but Chelsea's weekly injury report has now revealed the 26-year-old has moved one step closer to a comeback by getting involved in certain parts of training.

"They assess him day by day and in the last few days he has the possibility to be involved in some parts of the training session," head coach Mauricio Pochettino confirmed on Friday.

"We now need to see the reaction of his body and then how he is going to be involved. We hope we can recover him and he can be available as soon as possible or before the end of the season."

Goalkeeper Robert Sanchez, who has been sidelined through illness, is also back in partial team training, whereas winger Raheem Sterling has overcome his sickness bug and is fully available once again.

Enzo Fernandez and Axel Disasi are both back after missing the 6-0 win over Everton, and thankfully for Pochettino, there are no new additions to the injury list.

Chelsea remain without Levi Colwill, Wesley Fofana, Reece James, Romeo Lavia and Lesley Ugochukwu for the trip to Wembley to face Manchester City, Cole Palmer's former side, on Saturday.

"He already played twice [against Man City]," Pochettino said of Palmer. "He is very grateful with Man City, with Pep Guardiola, he always talks very highly about them.

"He's not this type of player to have something inside. He understood perfectly that maybe for different reasons he wanted to prove himself at another club. Thank you to Manchester City for giving the opportunity for him to move to another club."

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