Marcos Alonso returns to the Chelsea line-up for the first time since SEPTEMBER

Marcos Alonso has returned to the Chelsea squad under new manager Thomas Tuchel.  

The Spanish full-back has not played a single minute for the club since September when he was hooked off by Frank Lampard at half-time against West Brom. 

However, he has been selected among the starting lineup ahead of Chelsea’s Premier League clash with 15th place Burnley today. 

The arrival of Tuchel has proved to be monumental for Alonso – who had become a somewhat forgotten man at Chelsea.

Aside from four appearances on the bench in the Champions League, Alonso had been banished from the first-team squad since the encounter at The Hawthorns which left his manager Frank Lampard furious. 

It was claimed that after being subbed he tried to watch the second half from the team bus rather than with his team-mates in the stands, without the permission of the Chelsea boss. 

He is understood to have taken a shower and gone to the bus after being hauled off alongside midfielder Mateo Kovacic, who took his place in the stands with the rest of the squad, before then reappearing in the stands a little while later.  

Despite Chelsea’s second half comeback, Lampard is understood to have launched a verbal tirade at Alonso in the dressing room at full-time. 

Alonso was seen as largely at fault for two of the goals, making it easier for Lampard to freeze him out of the side. 

Alonso also fell down the pecking order at Chelsea following the arrival of of Ben Chilwell in the summer.