Alonso: No injury concerns for Chelsea ahead of Fulham

Xabi Alonso has confirmed Chelsea have no fresh injury concerns heading into their Premier League season opener against Fulham at Craven Cottage on Monday evening.

The match kicks off at 8pm and will be broadcast live on Sky Sports, with Chelsea making the short trip along the Thames to face their London neighbours.

Speaking to the media on Thursday at Cobham, Alonso said Danny Welbeck is expected to be available after missing a small amount of training. "Danny can be involved, he just needed a couple of days not training that much because of a little thing," the Chelsea manager said. "We expect him to be back on Saturday. We need to go day by day, but that is the plan at the moment."

Players who returned late from the World Cup are also in contention for selection, though Alonso acknowledged they may need more time to reach full fitness. "With the other players, let's see. We will check and assess them, but for sure because of the World Cup they came back a little bit later and will need a little more time," he said. "But they are all available and can be selected in the line-up against Fulham, for sure."