N'Golo Kante has the full respect of the Chelsea squad over his decision not to return to training, according to Blues goalkeeper Willy Caballero.
France World Cup winner Kante has opted not to link up with the Blues squad as they go through the first phase of training at their Cobham base ahead of the Premier League restart.
With clubs due to approve the second phase this week, there are suggestions that Kante may end up not playing for the Blues again this season over his fears of catching coronavirus.
The former Leicester City star lost his brother to a heart attack shortly before the 2018 World Cup, while his father passed away when he was 11. Kante also fainted in a training session two years ago.
He did take part in a small session at the club last week, before informing manager Frank Lampard that he wished to stay away.
"It’s very understandable," veteran goalkeeper Caballero told TNT Sports in an Instagram Live chat, via Metro Sport.
"He tested negative for COVID-19 but he had a bad time of it during quarantine with symptoms of the virus that gave him that fear.
"We respect him and we’ll wait until he feels comfortable because the truth is that to do what we’re doing you have to feel okay and feel confidence and after we start again, we have to all go forward together.
"N’Golo is a very humble and hard-working person who is always smiling and he must have his reasons to lift up his hand and say what he’s said.
"We did a lot of Zoom meetings with Frank Lampard and the other players and he said he didn’t feel safe going back to training because of the way he had felt over the last few weeks.
"We know he’s someone who loves training and running and is incapable of lying about something like this. We support him and we respect him."
