Sonia Bompastor revealed the chances of several of her players featuring in Sunday's Women's League Cup final, while providing the latest on the returns of three players who have been out injured longer-term.
It has been nearly three weeks since the Blues were in action due to the international break, but we now return with a massive game, as we take on Manchester United in the final of the Women's League Cup at Ashton Gate on Sunday.
The Blues have been putting that time to good use at Cobham, though, working on the fitness of some of the players who were missing in recent weeks in the hope that they will return for this big game in Bristol, with mixed success.
'Everyone came back from the international break good, so no new injuries,' confirmed Bompastor in her pre-match press conference on Thursday. 'Millie Bright won’t be available for Sunday’s game, it’s taking a little bit longer than we expected, so I don’t have any time frame for her right now.
'Except for Millie, maybe we have Kadeisha Buchanan who will be back, Nathalie Bjorn will be back, and we worked really well with them during the international break.
'We could train with the boys’ Academy. I want to thank them for that because they helped us really well to prepare the players for the game on Sunday. So it will be good to have those two back in the squad as well.'
However, despite the good news on Buchanan and Bjorn's potential returns, there have been set-backs elsewhere in the squad among those hoping to recover from injury, including Mayra Ramirez.
'Mayra was progressing well but she picked up a new injury in her rehab again,' continued Sonia. 'So it’s been a really tough and difficult season for her, I’m not sure we will see her until the end of the season unfortunately.
'She’s struggling mentally, that’s normal. It’s been a tough season for her with injuries and sometimes it’s difficult to explain everything. I spoke with her yesterday, she’s really low right now, that’s normal but everyone in the club is making sure we are supporting her in the right way and we are providing her what she needs.'
It is a similar story for Niamh Charles and Catarina Macario, who Bompastor confirmed will play no part against Manchester United this weekend.
'Niamh is still struggling a little bit with her ankle,' added the Chelsea head coach. 'I think she’s still describing some discomfort and pain, not having a stable ankle.
'We are sometimes making some progress but when we are getting to a point where she is close to getting back to training sessions we take some steps back. So it’s not going in a progressive way, it’s unfortunate, now I don’t have any time frame.
'Cat is the same, she’s not making any progress and I don’t have any time frame on Cat as well, which is unfortunate.'