Christian Pulisic praises ‘exciting’ Chelsea team after recovering from injury and adjusting from Bundesliga

US international signed a long-term deal with the Blues last year

Christian Pulisic says he has had a tough time coping with injuries of late, but he has recovered and is ready to aid his team-mates when football resumes.

The summer arrival for Chelsea has had a stop-start campaign to an extent, fighting for a regular position at first before hitting a great run of form around October and November.

An injury in early January sidelined him, however, and the ensuing shutdown of the Premier League due to the coronavirus pandemic has meant Pulisic has not played since New Year’s Day.

The American international says fans perhaps didn’t know about the extent of his “freak injury,” but insists he’s fit again to play a part whenever the league starts up again.

“It was really tough with this most recent one. I think that a lot of people didn’t realise how serious it was,” Pulisic said to the club website.

“It was a really freak injury in how it happened. It happened in training out of nothing really and it put me out a while.

“But I’m feeling good now, I’ve been training a lot and I’m just really excited to get back out on the field.

“It feels like it’s been a long time without football for everyone at the moment, but certainly for me because I had the injury on top of everything that’s going on now.”

Pulisic, who is in the United States with family during this lockdown period, acknowledged how much of a difference there was between playing in the Bundesliga with Borussia Dortmund and the Premier League with Chelsea.

Hailing the “experience” of elite-level action of manager Frank Lampard, Pulisic says the blues have “really exciting young players” in the squad and he has adapted well to his new surroundings.

Christian Pulisic’s form improvement included a hat-trick against Burnley (Getty)

“It’s been a big change for me coming to Chelsea and having to get to know a whole new team, a new league and stuff.

“I’ve been really proud of the guys and although we’ve had our tough moments, I think overall we’ve been pretty solid.

“I love playing with my team-mates and we’ve had so many exciting games. I’ve really enjoyed it and we just want to give it a strong push to the end of the season, if we are able to resume.

“The Premier League is more physically demanding because of the sheer number of games and the run of the schedule.

“You play so many different competitions in a short space of time, so it’s quite demanding and you learn quickly about that. It’s a physical league in general.

Pulisic last season in action for Dortmund (AP)

“There’s been a lot to learn but my Bundesliga experience has helped me in that sense, as it’s not totally different to the Premier League.”

The 21-year-old has made 23 appearances in 2019/20 for Chelsea in all competitions, scoring six.

He already has 34 USA caps at international level, and agreed his move to Stamford Bridge last February for £58m, returning to Dortmund on loan for the rest of that campaign.