Emiliano Martínez, looking like he just had a fight with his wisdom teeth and lost really badly at the dentist, was back in Chelsea training yesterday, less than three weeks after suffering a fractured jaw in our 2-0 win against Everton.
Our first-choice goalkeeper had to have emergency surgery after being stretchered off the pitch on Merseyside, but it seems like he could be back in action far sooner than anyone could’ve reasonably expected — if not with Chelsea then with Argentina, who called him
up for international duty this week as well. (The November international break begins after this weekend’s matches.)
In Martínez’s absence, young Mike Penders has stepped up and with good effect overall, despite that massive blunder against Spurs on his full debut. Presumably he’s going to cede his starting spot back to Martínez, though whether that happens this weekend against Sunderland or just after the international break, remains to be seen.
Martínez’s teammate at both club and international level, Aarón Anselmino also returned to training yesterday after recent injuries (and the youngster was also called up to Argentina), and Jordan Henderson looked to be back to 100 per cent after dealing with an illness last weekend.
In less good news, Moisés Caicedo was not spotted in the open portion of yesterday’s training. Hopefully it’s nothing serious. Last time this happened, Reece James had to have surgery.
