Ruben Loftus-Cheek hopes to take part in Chelsea training following the conclusion of the winter break after taking another step forward in his recovery from Achilles surgery by playing 60 minutes in a behind-closed-doors friendly yesterday.
The 23-year-old featured for Chelsea’s development squad against Brentford B in a 2-0 defeat.
The first-team squad are on their winter break but Loftus-Cheek is using the 16-day hiatus to improve his fitness, having been sidelined since May.
Should he suffer no adverse reaction, Loftus-Cheek is likely to feature in similar matches this month. Chelsea’s next development squad fixture is at Arsenal on February 17.
Following the game, Loftus-Cheek posted a photo of himself in action with the caption: "Back running with the ball at my feet".
Last week, Lampard had said of Loftus-Cheek: "He’ll have to get some minutes. He’s had a full week of training with us for the first time and he has come through it.
"It’s great to see him but he looks short, he knows he’s short, you couldn’t not be after he has been out for so long.
"So yes, 23s progression and hopefully after the break we can talk about him more when he is going to come back into the squad."
