Michael Essien hoping to complete pre-season

Chelsea midfielder Michael Essien is hoping that he can complete pre-season training to leave him in the best possible condition to begin the new Premier League season.

The Ghana international has missed large parts of the last three campaigns with two serious knee ligament injuries.

However, having made a recovery from those setbacks, the 29-year-old has now turned his attention to getting himself as fit as possible.

"It is hard during the season if you miss pre-season," he told the club's official website. "And so it is good to start and hopefully finish the whole pre-season. So I am looking forward to that and we will see what happens.

"So far so good and I am looking forward to the season."

Essien joined the Blues in 2005 from French club Lyon.