Chelsea head coach Frank Lampard has delivered a fitness update on N'Golo Kante.
The France international made his first appearance of pre-season in the Blues' 2-2 draw against Borussia Monchengladbach, coming on as a substitute in the second half.
With the west London outfit facing Manchester United in their Premier League opener next week, Lampard couldn't confirm whether Kante would be available for the trip to Old Trafford.
"That was always the plan," Lampard told reporters. "He's working a little bit now and it was just to give him the feeling of match time as he hasn't been able to do that yet as it's an awkward injury.
"I just wanted him to feel it and us to see it as you cannot replicate it unless you do it.
"It was a good opportunity to do that for him and we'll work hard on getting him fit.
"Who knows if he'll be ready for next week or not, but we'll work hard for that.
"We also have to be a bit careful as he's played so many games over the past three seasons and we don't want to rush him back if it's going to be a negative.
"We'll do our best to get him back."
Kante has been struggling with the injury that almost ruled him out of last season's Europa League final against Arsenal.
But to see him on the pitch again is certainly a huge boost ahead of the new campaign.
In other Chelsea injury news, another player making good progress is centre-back Antonio Rudiger.
The German has been sidelined with a meniscus injury, ironically sustained in the corresponding fixture at Old Trafford towards the end of last season and wasn't expected to play much part of the pre-season campaign.
He has since taken to social media and issued a positive update about his progress.
"Always focused on progress," he tweeted. "Taking another big step next week: training with the team again."
