Chelsea midfielder N'Golo Kante 'progressing well' ahead of Manchester United visit

Comeback trail: N'Golo Kante
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Vaishali Bhardwaj3 November 2017

Antonio Conte will wait to assess whether N'Golo Kante will make his matchday squad for the game against Manchester United, but has ruled Victor Moses out of the Premier League clash at Stamford Bridge.

Kante has been sidelined with a hamstring injury since the international break, but appeared to be ready to make his return when Chelsea travelled to play Roma in the Champions League in midweek.

The France international did not make Conte's starting line-up, nor his substitutes' bench, however with questions being asked whether the 26-year-old will play against United on Sunday afternoon.

Conte would not say whether Kante is ready to return to action, but did say the midfielder has progressed well from his hamstring injury.

The Chelsea boss told reporters at Cobham: "He's progressing well. He's progressing well. We have also tomorrow, and then I'll take the best decision for him and for the team.

"But, for sure, N'Golo is progressing well and I'm very happy for this. You know very well that we are talking about an important player."

When asked whether he would risk playing Kante against United, Conte replied: "Honestly, if I wanted to risk him, I could do this against Bournemouth, I could do this against Roma. Instead, I waited.

"I found in myself a lot of patience to try the best way for N'Golo. It means that, if I decide to put him in the team to start the game, he will be ready to do this. Otherwise, I repeat, I could have done this against Bournemouth or Roma."

Another player who has been out with injury is Moses, who suffered a hamstring injury in the 2-1 loss at Crystal Palace last month.

Conte confirmed the wing-back has not recovered from the issue and will not make his squad on Sunday.

He said: "No, zero chance [Moses will play]. Moses' injury was a bad injury, a bad muscular problem. We have to wait and have patience. He needs more time before he recovers."

Conte did, however, admit that captain Gary Cahill will return to his usual position on the left of a three-man defence.

The defender was shifted onto the right of Conte's defence for the Champions League game against Roma but, with Chelsea losing 2-0, Cahill was brought off in the 56th minute.

Conte admitted it was probably a mistake to move Cahill to the other flank in Rome, and confirmed the defender will take up his usual position against United.

When asked whether Cahill will play on the right again on Sunday, Conte replied: "No, no. He's very good to play on the left. We won a league with Cahill in this position. I don't understand why we have to try again to put him on the right.

"Maybe [it was a mistake to move him]. I think Cahill can play on the right or the left, but the best position for me is on the left. But sometimes can happen a misunderstanding, you understand. It's important then to clarify the situation. But for sure he will play on Sunday."

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