Carney Chukwuemeka makes early Chelsea return after England Under-21s duty

Carney Chukwuemeka has returned to Chelsea having failed to prove his fitness to represent England Under-21s.

The midfielder has endured a hugely frustrating campaign after it had appeared that he could become a mainstay in the starting lineup under Mauricio Pochettino.

Chukwuemeka started the opening two Premier League matches of the campaign, scoring in the game at West Ham United before suffering a knee injury shortly afterwards.

Since then, the 20-year-old has not started another senior fixture for Chelsea, accumulating fewer than 90 minutes across seven substitute outings.

Before the international break, Chukwuemeka experienced the best moment of his season as he scored Chelsea's third goal in a 4-2 victory over Leicester City in the FA Cup quarter-finals.

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That, theoretically, set him up to go and earn minutes while representing England Under-21s in fixtures against Azerbaijan and Luxembourg.

However, that is not how things have transpired, as Chukwuemeka will instead miss the first of that double-header due to a knock sustained in training.

At the time, it was believed that the playmaker would be fit enough to play some part of the following fixture at the home of Bolton Wanderers.

Instead, Chelsea announced on Monday morning that Chukwuemeka had returned to the club, seemingly in an effort to boost his chances of remaining in the club's first-team squad.

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A statement read: "The midfielder was called up to the England Under-21 side earlier this month for games against Azerbaijan and Luxembourg, but wasn't used in the former and will now miss the latter having returned to Cobham.

"Chukwuemeka returns early to work on his fitness at Cobham, as he looks to play a key role in the remainder of the season for Chelsea as Mauricio Pochettino's Blues look for a strong end to the campaign."

The wording suggests that Chukwuemeka has overcome the knock that prevented him from facing Azerbaijan and instead requires days on the training pitch, rather than potentially sitting on the substitutes' bench for his country.

Between March 30 and April 7, Chelsea have three fixtures in the Premier League, hosting Burnley and Manchester United before making the trip to Sheffield United.