Chelsea's Eden Hazard handed Belgium call-up before playing first Chelsea game

Eden Hazard has been called up by Belgium for their forthcoming World Cup qualifiers despite not having played for Chelsea this season.

Hazard has been sidelined ever since he suffered a fracture to his right ankle while with the Belgium national team in June.

The 26-year-old is still working his way back to match fitness and is going to play a match in Premier League 2 - a competition which replaced the Under-21 Premier League - for Chelsea against Everton on Friday night.

But even though Hazard has yet to appear for the first team, Belgium have named him in a 28-man squad for games with Gibraltar and Greece on August 31 and September 3 respectively.

Belgium coach Robert Martinez explained: "We'll see how he is. He's training with the squad. That doesn't mean he's fully fit for the games. We'll see on Monday.

"We have an incredible relationship with Chelsea. I don't forsee any problems. We need Eden as a player and a human."

There is a possibility that Hazard will be on the bench for the senior side against Everton on Sunday.

FIFA rules dictate that players must be released by clubs for international duty should they be called up.

If they have suffered any injury problems, then the national association can carry out their own checks on the player before deciding whether to send them back or not.

It is believed that Chelsea coach Antonio Conte doesn't want Hazard to be involved so a compromise is expected to be reached.

Hazard is the Belgium captain so the most likely outcome is that he will just be with the squad for 24 hours before returning to Cobham.

Conte doesn't want Hazard to rush his return and has always earmarked the game against Leicester on September 9 for his comeback.

With the Champions League and the Carabao Cup starting for the Blues next month, Conte's side have seven games in just three weeks and Hazard is key to the club's hopes in all competitions.