Levi Colwill steps up Chelsea injury return as first game back confirmed | OneFootball

Defender has been sidelined since last summer with a serious knee injury

Levi Colwill will play for Chelsea’s Under-21s on Friday, in what will be his first match since suffering a serious knee injury last summer.

His last involvement for Chelsea was in the Club World Cup final against Paris Saint-Germain, which Chelsea won 3-0 in New Jersey.

Colwill will not be involved in Saturday’s Premier League clash with Manchester United, but head coach Liam Rosenior is hopeful the defender can play for the first team before the end of the season.

Trevoh Chalobah is in modified training, and a late call will be made to decide to availability for the United fixture at Stamford Bridge.

Comeback trail: Levi Colwill

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Asked whether Colwill can play again this season, Rosenior said on Thursday: “I'm hoping so. Levi is a leader in the dressing room. I think Levi will play some minutes for the Under-21s tomorrow, which is fantastic for him.

“When you have a long-term injury, such as the extent of Levi's injury, you need a long rehab period. I want to make sure that he's 100 per cent right in terms of his match fitness before we consider him for selection for our first team.

“It [the friendly] has not been set up especially for him, but it's something that we think is right for him in this moment.”

Rosenior would not be drawn on whether Fernandez will start against United following his ban, but did insist it is “business as usual in terms of selection”, and the Argentine is expected to play.

The Chelsea head coach added: “Trevoh trained today, not quite fully — modified — and we'll make a decision on him, but he's very, very close. Reece [James] is a little bit further away.”