Image Courtesy : N'Golo Kante/Twitter
As part of Chelsea’s development squad, N’Golo Kante played in a friendly match against Charlton Athletic yesterday. After returning from injury, Kante played 60 minutes, with Dion Rankine, Silko Thomas, and Malik Mothersille scoring.
N’Golo Kanté, finally back on the pitch in a friendly for Chelsea after being injured for 7 months 🔵🔙 #CFC
Here are his teammates Mason Mount and Thiago Silva both in the stands to support Kanté after difficult months. pic.twitter.com/B7SuToQfl8
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) March 24, 2023
Yesterday Chelsea confirmed Kante featured against Charlton yesterday afternoon on the club website. The post read: “N’Golo Kante played 60 minutes in a behind-closed-doors friendly this afternoon as he nears a return to action for Chelsea.
“N’Golo has been training with the squad for a few weeks now and will look to continue his return from injury in the coming days. This will be before the full squad returns from an international break next week.”
After missing most of the 2022/23 Premier League season due to a significant hamstring injury, the Frenchman returned to full first-team training earlier this month. During the international break, Blues head coach Graham Potter confirmed that Kante would make significant progress in his return to competitive action. Graham Potter said, “N’Golo’s training Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday with potentially a game to give him some minutes.”
It’s been a long road back for the Frenchman since he suffered a hamstring injury during Chelsea’s 2-2 draw with Tottenham at Stamford Bridge on August 14. Potter’s side will be back in action on April 1 in the Premier League against Aston Villa. However, whether that game will come too soon for Kante to start remains to be seen.