Chelsea boss Graham Potter assesses Ruben Loftus-Cheek’s World Cup chances | football

Graham Potter insists he was “really impressed”. Ruben Loftus-Cheek this season and appreciated Chelsea the midfielder’s chances of achieving England’s chances World Cup squad

Loftus-Cheek has been a consistent fixture at Stamford Bridge, featuring in all 11 of Chelsea’s Premier League games this season.

The 26-year-old has seen his progress stalled by repeated injury problems in previous seasons, but now appears to have overcome his fitness setbacks and established himself as a key member of the Potter squad.

Potter has been “really impressed” with Loftus-Cheek “on and off the pitch” and believes his impressive form could earn him a place in the England squad for the World Cup in Qatar.

“Ruben has really impressed me on and off the pitch,” Potter said ahead of Chelsea’s Champions League clash with Red Bull Salzburg on Tuesday night.

“He’s a humble guy who wants to learn and improve. He’s clearly benefited from more playing time, but the way he’s been training is really, really good when he’s not playing. So it allowed him to build up his fitness.

“Clearly he needs a good level of fitness to carry his big body around the pitch, but the quality is there. He is fantastic with the ball, great physicality, great athlete.

“I think he’s putting himself in a situation where he’s going to be one of Garrett’s players [Southgate] will be seen as an outsider to the team. But that’s Garrett’s decision.’

Meanwhile, Loftus-Cheek admits that being in the England squad for the upcoming World Cup will be “huge” as he also featured in the last tournament in 2018.

“It would be amazing,” said the former Crystal Palace and Fulham loanee. “It would mean a lot.

“As a player, after participating in the 2018 World Cup, you see that your trajectory is going up and to be at the next World Cup if things go well.

“A lot has happened in that time and I’m just happy and grateful to be fit, healthy and now playing football consistently.

“If I go to the World Cup it will mean the world, but that’s not my focus at the moment.

“We have some big games ahead of us that require our full attention. It would be selfish for me to think about my personal aspirations and not the club at the moment.”

Chelsea are fifth in the Premier League and top of Group E in the Champions League as they prepare to face RB Salzburg in Austria on Tuesday.

Speaking ahead of Chelsea’s clash with Salzburg, Blues boss Potter added: “They’re a really good side, we saw their quality at Stamford Bridge. We have to fight, match their motivation and intensity and then we have to try to play our football.”

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