Chelsea could welcome three players back for the visit of Fulham, with Ben Chilwell, Benoit Badiashile and Carney Chukwuemeka making progress.
The trio are all in full training but the final decision about their reintroductions will lie with Mauricio Pochettino.
Their fitness will be carefully managed, with Badiashile potentially able to play more minutes after only missing the last two weeks.
Christopher Nkunku, Reece James, Robert Sanchez, Marc Cucurella, Wesley Fofana, Lesley Ugochukwu, Romeo Lavia and Trevoh Chalobah are out injured.
Nicolas Jackson is at the Africa Cup of Nations with Senegal.
Chelsea, though, still have limited options with at least nine players ruled out of a west London derby which the Blues must win after losing away at Middlesbrough in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday.
