Rudiger edges closer to Chelsea comeback

Antonio Rudiger stepped up his comeback from injury on Monday after completing the full 90 minutes in Chelsea Under-23s' win over Liverpool.

In front of Chelsea head coach Frank Lampard – who was watching on from the stands at Stamford Bridge – Germany international Rudiger made his first appearance since suffering a meniscus injury in April.

Having missed all of pre-season, Rudiger returned to full training at the start of August and came through unscathed as Chelsea's development squad ran out 3-0 winners in Premier League 2 – with another senior squad member, Michy Batshuayi, scoring twice.

Rudiger's comeback will be welcome news for Lampard, who has had only three centre-backs to choose from so far this campaign following the sale of David Luiz to Arsenal.

Andreas Christensen and Kurt Zouma have been the preferred pairing, though the latter has come in for some criticism after a costly mistake in the 4-0 defeat to Manchester United.