ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE:CARLO ANCELOTTI has been forced to revise his recently implemented policy of only selecting John Terry when the centre half is fully fit and will play his captain at Aston Villa this evening after injuries left his squad severely depleted, reports Dominic Fifield.
Terry was ruled out of England’s Euro 2012 qualifier against Montenegro in midweek after falling awkwardly in training last Friday, and suffering spasms and bruising to his back.
He has not been able to train fully at Cobham since returning to the Premier League champions, but will be asked to play at Villa Park. Ancelotti is without Alex, Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba, and wary of the hosts’ threat in the air.
Ancelotti said only last month that Terry, who turns 30 in December, has “to be realistic” and rest when suffering from even minor injuries to prolong his career for club and country, yet necessity has forced the Italian’s hand.
“This is a different moment,” the Chelsea manager said.
“He is not 100 per cent, no. He had a problem with his back and tried to train, and it wasn’t perfect. I’ll ask him if he’s fit to play, but he is in my team at the moment. But Villa are dangerous from set-pieces because they have good jumpers. Missing Alex and Drogba is a blow, so we have to find solutions.”
The centre half, who is still suffering from bruising to his lower back, will be required to travel to Moscow with the squad tomorrow ahead of Tuesday’s Champions League tie against Spartak, on an artificial pitch at the Luzhniki Stadium, where Chelsea will need his experience off the pitch even if he is not risked on it.
Drogba, who has been suffering from a fever this week that has prevented him from training, will miss that trip, while Lampard is still at least two weeks away from a return as he continues his rehabilitation after a groin operation.
Gael Kakuta will start for the champions.
Chelsea are investigating how Yossi Benayoun ruptured his Achilles tendon, which will keep him out for up to six months and was first identified by MRI scans conducted in Tel Aviv by the Israeli Football Federation. The club remain insistent that the midfielder was not suffering from the injury when he left England for Israel on October 4th. He will undergo surgery in Finland on Monday.
Guardian Service
