Chelsea are hopeful Eden Hazard will be fit for Tuesday’s Champions League semi-final against Atletico Madrid.
The Belgium winger, 23, suffered a calf injury in Chelsea’s quarter-final victory over Paris St-Germain 10 days ago and has not played since.
But Hazard must return to full training if he is to make a comeback in Madrid.
“To be considered, he obviously needs to train with the group very quickly,” said assistant coach Steve Holland. “It’s a day-by-day one at the moment.”
Hazard was ruled out for a fortnight by Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho when he suffered the problem during the early stages of Chelsea’s 2-0 win over Paris St Germain.
Holland added: “Normal procedure is that you wouldn’t ask a player to play in a game without some training beforehand, so it’s a tight period for him to be made available for that game – he’s got to train with the group in the next couple of days.”
Chelsea will not take any risks with Hazard, who is on the shortlist for the Professional Footballers’ Association player of the year award, prior to the trip to Premier League leaders Liverpool, who are two points ahead of second-placed Blues, on Sunday, 27 April.
“If he’s not going to be available for Tuesday, if we can give him a better chance of being involved for Sunday, then that would be the criteria that we would work to,” Holland said
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