Chelsea striker Tammy Abraham earmarks injury return date as he targets England friendlies

EXCLUSIVE
Injury return: Abraham hopes to be back for this month's Euro warm-ups
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James Olley6 March 2020

Chelsea striker Tammy Abraham earmarks injury return date as he targets England friendlies

Tammy Abraham has revealed he is targeting a return to action this month and is hopeful of being fit for England’s friendlies against Italy and Denmark.

The 22-year-old is currently unable to train and will miss Chelsea’s Premier League home game against Everton on Sunday as he continues his recovery from an ankle problem, which he describes as looking like a “swollen ball”.

Abraham originally suffered the problem during the Blues’ 2-2 draw with Arsenal on 21 January when turning his right ankle after colliding with the Stamford Bridge advertising boards.

He returned to action 11 days later at Leicester but was then missing for three weeks before two substitute appearances against Tottenham and Bayern Munich, after which he aggravated the problem during a post-match warm-down.

As the injury persisted, Abraham flew to Barcelona at Chelsea’s request to see a specialist, who confirmed the club’s original diagnosis that he did not require an operation but the striker subsequently picked up a bug with head coach Frank Lampard reluctant to put a timescale on his return.

But when asked whether there was a chance he would be available for England this month, Abraham said: “Yes, definitely. I’m almost fit. There’s still a bit to do. I’ll get there soon.

“It’s a recurrence. [The problem was] playing on it and aggravating it even more. It is still like a swollen ball really but it is getting better day by day.

“The club wanted me to go to Barcelona. They just wanted different eyes, a different mindset on this situation. He told me what was wrong, exactly what the Chelsea physios said and he recommended some stuff for me to do. I’m doing physio right now.

“This time, I just said ‘I’ll just come back when I’m 100 per cent’ instead of coming back and going again.”

This month’s internationals would be a huge opportunity for Abraham to stake a claim ahead of Euro 2020 with Harry Kane and Marcus Rashford both sidelined through injury.

Kane and Rashford have both insisted they will be fit for the tournament but Gareth Southgate only has this month’s two fixtures to assess his options before naming his final squad in late May.

“The March internationals could be [a great chance] if it did come into my hands,” he said. “I am ready for it. I have to step up and do what I do best.

“I’ve spoken to Marcus. Harry Kane is someone I’ve always idolised. Hopefully he can be back because he is a player that England definitely need and Marcus as well. They are both great young talents.

“I’ve watched England on TV [at tournaments] and actually going to the Euros would be a dream come true. But first of all, it’s about knuckling down at Chelsea.”

Abraham last night became the first man to win Premier League Player of the Year and Young Player of the Year at the London Football Awards, run in aid of Willow, the national charity set up by former Arsenal goalkeeper Bob Wilson and his wife Megs to support seriously ill 16-40-year-olds.

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