Chelsea wing-back Victor Moses resumes outdoor training ahead of West Brom trip

Victor Moses has resumed outdoor training as the Chelsea wing-back closes in on a return to first-team action following almost a month on the sidelines.

Moses has not played at all since sustaining a hamstring injury during the first half of a shock 2-1 Premier League defeat to former employers Crystal Palace on 14 October, sitting out successive Champions League fixtures against AS Roma in addition to domestic meetings with Watford, Everton, Bournemouth and Manchester United.

The Nigeria international was initially expected to miss approximately four weeks, although Conte stressed before the slender win over Jose Mourinho's side at Stamford Bridge that he currently had "zero chance" of playing and needed more time to recover from what he described as a bad muscular problem.

Moses has kept fans abreast of his recovery on social media, last week proclaiming that he would be back soon and that he was "getting there slowly" by working indoors in the pool and on an anti-gravity treadmill.

In a further update issues on Thursday evening, the 26-year-old further raised hopes that he could be available for the trip to struggling West Bromwich Albion on 18 November after posting a picture of himself on Twitter being put through his paces by long-serving physio Jon Fearn on an outdoor training pitch at Cobham.

"Good to be back training outside," he wrote.

Moses' next step will come as a real boost to Chelsea, with former midfield stalwart Frank Lampard among those to claim that his absence was affecting the whole defence. Manager Antonio Conte has generally alternated between summer signing Davide Zappacosta and the versatile Cesar Azpilicueta at the right wing-back position over recent weeks.

It is also a positive piece of news for the Blues during an international break that has featured a growing number of injury scares.

Striker Michy Batshuayi has withdrawn from the Belgium squad for friendly matches against Mexico and Japan after aggravating a foot problem, while fellow striker Alvaro Morata missed a Spanish training session earlier this week with a toe issue. However, he is expected to be fit for clashes with Costa Rica and Russia.

Captain Gary Cahill did eventually report for international duty with England after being assessed by club doctors in the aftermath of the Manchester United game, but is now considered a real doubt for Friday night's friendly against Germany after sitting out training at St George's Park yesterday.

Chelsea academy graduates Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Tammy Abraham – currently on loan at Crystal Palace and Swansea City respectively – are set to win their maiden senior caps for the injury-hit Three Lions at Wembley Stadium, although Danny Drinkwater rejected a call-up because he does not yet consider himself to be fully fit.