Frank Lampard had said in the build-up to the Watford game that Kante was ‘close’ to returning to full fitness and would ‘possibly be ready for Ajax’. His involvement at Cobham today is another step in the right direction for our French midfielder.

Barkley limped off against Newcastle in the first game after the October international break and hasn’t featured since, with his and Andreas Christensen’s focus now on getting match-fit, something Lampard explained on Friday.

‘I’m quite big that the players come back into training at the level that they left so they’re then ready to play games, because they can’t just walk straight back in after injuries. There has to be some progression.’