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Romelu Lukaku hands Chelsea a fitness boost as he takes to the training pitch ahead of his return

  /  autty

Romelu Lukaku has handed Chelsea a timely fitness boost after taking to the training field ahead of his imminent Premier League return.

The club's record signing suffered an injury lay-off after sustaining an ankle issue against Malmo in the Champions League, but is expected to be back in action soon.

Indeed, the frontman has continued his recovery at the Blues' training complex at Cobham, and may be in line to feature against Leicester this weekend.

Lukaku has provided his social media followers with regular updates to show off his progress, including earlier this month, when he tweeted that he would try running.

And his comeback is all but on the horizon now, especially in light of today's post. Alongside two pictures of him training, he used the full battery emoji.

Three days ago, the former Inter Milan striker also reflected on how 'fun' it is to be able to play again - and looks to have taken a giant leap in his preparations since.

'Being on the sideline these last weeks… I realise how much fun it is to just train and compete against other teams!' he said.

He then continued the promising message, which also read: 'Soon though'. Lukaku included another battery and clock emoji for good measure.

A week on from the injury, Lukaku took to Twitter to show to anxious supporters that he was receiving treatment on his ankle, all while laid back on a sofa.

He was forced to miss the draw against Burnley before the international break, but the brief pause in club action has allowed him to work on regaining full fitness.

Speaking ahead of picking up a point against the Clarets, boss Thomas Tuchel said that Lukaku's situation would be 'more clear' when the Premier League resumes.

'To give you any date now, I would have to confirm,' Tuchel said. 'We also have the national break now and we will be more clear after that.

'We will use the time, of course, and see what is going on in the second week of the national break.

'If you ask me the question then I can be more precise than now. We have that break and we will use it.

'He will have treatment every day, the same for Timo [Werner] and Mateo [Kovacic], to bring them on the pitch as soon as possible.'

A number of injuries has blighted Tuchel's squad in recent weeks, leading the head  coach to admit that he is 'always a bit frightened' about further setbacks.

This season, Lukaku has scored four goals, having enjoyed a bright start to his second stint at Stamford Bridge.

He endured a four-match barren streak, though, before limping off against Malmo.