Chelsea handed triple injury boost ahead of Manchester City FA Cup tie

Chelsea head coach Mauricio Pochettino has seen his injury list reduced ahead of Saturday's FA Cup semi-final against Manchester City.

For much of the campaign, Pochettino has been required to contend with an array of players consistently unavailable for selection, leading to youngsters being promoted to the senior matchday squads on a regular basis.

That remained the case on Monday night when the Blues squared off against Everton in the Premier League, still being able to run out 6-0 victors in the process.

Axel Disasi, Enzo Fernandez and Raheem Sterling were all missing from the squad and separate reports have since emerged about the latter two.

On Tuesday, it was claimed that Fernandez may undergo surgery on a hernia issue, which would subsequently rule out him until May.

Meanwhile, Sterling reportedly suffered food poisoning at some point last week and led to his absence from training up until Wednesday.

Chelsea numbers boosted ahead of Wembley date

Prior to Pochettino's pre-match press conference ahead of the Wembley showdown with Man City, Chelsea revealed an official injury update.

None of Disasi, Fernandez or Sterling featured among the list of names, suggesting that they will each be available for selection.

The update also indicated that Christopher Nkunku had returned to partial training for the first time since suffering a hamstring injury against Liverpool in the EFL Cup final in February.

However, Pochettino stated to reporters that time would be required to see whether Nkunku suffers any reaction to returning to the grass, seemingly ruling him out of Saturday's game.

Levi Colwill also appears in line to miss another game with a toe injury, with it being revealed that he was still undergoing a rehabilitation programme.

Will any of the returning players start?

Pochettino will naturally be tempted to stick with the same starting lineup from the demolition of Everton, but it would come as a surprise if that were to be the case.

Disasi's aerial presence is superior to that of Thiago Silva and Trevoh Chalobah, and Pochettino will be eager to have the Frenchman back for that purpose as Chelsea bid to handle Erling Haaland.

Fernandez is also likely to get the nod over either Noni Madueke or Mykhaylo Mudryk in order to form a partnership alongside Moises Caicedo in the centre, allowing Conor Gallagher to be deployed further forward.

Ben Chilwell could also be preferred to Marc Cucurella at left-back, but the England international has just 10 minutes under his belt since the middle of the March international break.