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Football London
Football London
Sport
Alan Smith

Chelsea planning friendly with London rival as two players miss Stamford Bridge game with injury

Chelsea are expected to face Queens Park Rangers in a behind closed doors friendly as both clubs ramp up their preparations for a return to Premier League and Championship action in a fortnight from now.

While Frank Lampard brought his team back to Stamford Bridge for the first time since early March on Saturday for an in-house game featuring a number of academy players, the head coach is keen on a more competitive practice match before their first competitive game in more than three months.

The Blues kick off their restarted campaign with a trip to Aston Villa on Sunday June 21. QPR's Championship season also resumes that weekend with final details of fixtures to be confirmed.

Alan Smith breaks down Chelsea's move for Timo Werner and who they may look to next

Two of Lampard's players were not part of yesterday's game owing to minor injuries with Reece James and Callum Hudson-Odoi picking up knocks in training.

Neither are considered serious and the decision to leave them out was understood to be precautionary.

N'Golo Kante was also absent for personal reasons and it is almost certain that he will not be part of the squad that travels to Villa Park before welcoming Manchester City to the Bridge in a huge clash five days later.

Meanwhile, Timo Werner's £53million move to Chelsea remains on despite RB Leipzig denying that an agreement had been struck yesterday.

The move does not have to be finalised until his release clause expires on June 15 but the player has indicated his desire to move to London at the end of the season.

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