Chelsea fullback 'Reece James could be available to start' Chelsea's next Premier League game, while 'Ben Chilwell is expected to be fit' enough for the bench.
James was ruled out of the World Cup last year after suffering a knee injury in October. He made a brief return for the Blues against Bournemouth after Christmas, but was subbed off shortly after half time and has not featured since.
His Chelsea and England teammate Chilwell has also spent much of this season out with a hamstring injury, leaving Graham Potter's side without both of their first-choice fullbacks.
Their injury luck looks set to change, though, with the Telegraph reporting that James will be available for Friday's game against Fulham, while Chilwell is also likely to return as a substitute.
Speaking to the club website on Friday, Chilwell was upbeat about his return, as he said: 'I've been working now for 10-11 weeks to get back onto the grass and I've been back in training now for a few days, so I'm buzzing and really looking forward to getting back to the games and helping the team.
'Missing the World Cup, it's something that a few of the boys here have had to deal with and it's just about how we actually come over that, it's not what happened it's how you deal with it, and we've all stayed positive.'
The news will come as a massive boost to the Blues, who are currently without a number of key players including N'Golo Kante, Raheem Sterling and Edouard Mendy.
Results have been affected, with the club dipping to tenth in the table despite spending big on the likes of Mykhailo Mudryk and Joao Felix.
Chelsea have now won once in their past five games, and scored just three goals in that period.
Their next league game could prove an important marker of where Potter's men are at with their first-choice fullbacks back involved, as they lost 2-1 to Fulham without them just two weeks ago in the away fixture.