• Midfielder said to have alarmed team-mates after fainting on Friday • Kanté cleared by specialist but did not feature against Man City

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

N’Golo Kanté missed Chelsea’s visit to Manchester City on Sunday after fainting at the club’s training ground on Friday, according to reports.

The 26-year-old reportedly passed out after a training session at Cobham, and later underwent cardiology tests. Despite being initially cleared to play, Kanté felt unwell on Sunday morning and was left out of Antonio Conte’s squad.

As first reported by The Telegraph, the French midfielder was attended to by team doctors seconds after slumping over in the dressing room. After regaining consciousness, Kanté was sent to a specialist, who found no heart problems.

The incident is thought to have greatly alarmed Kanté’s team-mates at the time, and was brought into sharp relief by the news of Fiorentina captain Davide Astori’s sudden death on Sunday.

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Astori played for Conte and several of his backroom staff with the Italian national team, and the Chelsea manager was visibly emotional in paying tribute to the defender before the 1-0 defeat at the Etihad Stadium.

Kanté has reportedly been given a clean bill of health by Chelsea, and is available to feature against Crystal Palace on Saturday, and in the Champions League second-leg tie in Barcelona next week.

Azpilicueta insists Chelsea have plenty to play for

The Chelsea defender César Azpilicueta insists there is plenty to play for in the final two months of the season despite his side’s poor recent form.

Last season’s champions are five points behind fourth-placed Tottenham, who visit Stamford Bridge on 1 April, but Azpilicueta is targeting progress on three different fronts.

“We have lost a lot of games already and we don’t have space to make another mistake. We have to go game by game, try to win all of them and qualify for the Champions League. We have three targets to aim for this season,” said the Spaniard.

“We are in a bad position at the moment compared with where we were five games ago,” he added. “We put ourselves in this position and we are disappointed, but we have to bounce back.” Reuters