Chelsea players had to be evacuated from their training ground just hours before facing Sunderland in the Premier League. The west Londoners were scheduled to train on Friday afternoon but saw their preparations disrupted by safety concerns at their Cobham facility. There were fears of a chlorine leak after an alarm went off in the swimming pool part of the complex.

Players and staff were ordered to evacuate the building as the fire brigade rushed to the scene to investigate. A number of Chelsea stars were already believed to have been in their training kit when the incident occurred. Firefighters later confirmed that it was a false alarm, after which everybody was allowed back into the building to collect their belongings.

Chelsea players were still able to take part in their planned 3pm training session in spite of the interruption, according to The Sun.

A statement from the Blues read: "Fire services responded to an automatically triggered alarm at Chelsea FC’s Cobham training faciliity. As a precaution, all staff were safely evacuated.

"Emergency services confirmed a false alarm, and staff and players were able to return to the...