Graham Potter reveals how Reece James has coped with missing World Cup

Chelsea manager Graham Potter has revealed that Reece James is in a ‘good place’ and ‘training well’ after coming to terms with the personal blow of missing the World Cup through injury.

James was sidelined with a knee injury in October and spoke of his devastation the following month when it became clear he would not recover in time to go Qatar.

Having been a squad player at Euro 2020, the 23-year-old had been in line to play a major role for England at the World Cup after becoming a regular starter in the preceding months.

James has since recovered from the injury and his club manager is impressed with how he is coping both mentally and physically now that attention is turning back to the Premier League.

"I have to say he is in a good mood, he is in a good place,” Potter said of James.

“He has trained with us, is training well and is a good team-mate. He has dealt with it well.

"There is not too much you can say. You say it will get better with time and you have to focus on the things you can control. But there is nothing you can say to a player that will make it get better.

“All I can do is acknowledge that it is upsetting, that whatever he is feeling is normal and help him move forwards. It was a challenging period for him. It was a challenging period for all the players [who missed the World Cup]. They're only human.”

James was not the only Chelsea player who had to sit out the World Cup, with N’Golo Kante, Ben Chilwell and Wesley Fofana having selection taken out of their hands through injury as well.