Chelsea centre-back Antonio Rudiger believes he needs to be patient as he tries to get his full fitness back before making a Blues senior team return.
Rudiger, 26, recently returned from a knee injury that needed surgery and has started his journey to gain full fitness.
The Germany international's absence has seen Chelsea play their first two Premier League matches with Kurt Zouma and Andreas Christensen as their only available senior centre-backs.
Frank Lampard, who took charge of the club this summer, will be hoping that the former AS Roma man can gain full fitness soon.
However, Rudiger feels he needs to be patient rather than rushing his recovery as he looks to return to first-team action.
"I’ve been back for almost two weeks with the team and I’m feeling better each day but of course there is still game fitness missing, which is what I need to get better", Rudiger told Chelsea's website.
"I know I need to be patient.
"There’s no need to rush anything at the moment because we have a long season to go.
"You have to go day by day and that is what I’m doing."
Rudiger featured for Chelsea's Under-23s side in their Premier League 2 match against Liverpool's youth side on Monday and helped the team win 3-0.
