Chelsea Injury & Team News Update: Terry, Cech, Ba & More…

Chelsea will look to get back on track after two successive defeats as they take on Stoke City at the Britannia Stadium on Saturday.

Interim boss Rafa Benitez has given a team and injury news update ahead of the game with the latest on John Terry, Petr Cech, Fernando Torres and Demba Ba.

The European champions have been boosted with the return of captain John Terry who is back in the squad after missing the last 10 weeks with a knee injury picked up against Liverpool in November. Terry came through an under-21 game on Thursday unscathed but is not yet ready to start.

Quoted by the Mirror, Benitez said:

“John played on Thursday and he was okay. He trained today and is on the list for Stoke, fingers crossed!

“He can’t start yet but he’s available. That’s good news for us, to have both Terry and Frank Lampard available.

“With John we thought it would be less time but as I explained the knee is a problem. Now he is fine. That’s good news and hopefully he will be fine to the end of the season.

“For this game he knows he can’t start. We will see next week. He needs to train and be fitter and you can’t play injured players but it’s better to have bodies.”

First choice goalkeeper Petr Cech is also back in contention and is likely to replace Ross Turnbull after coming through a training session on Friday, but a final decision will be made on Saturday. Benitez said:

“He came through the training session.

“He will travel then we will have to decide. There is a chance he will play. We will check him. We don’t know but it is an option for us.” Benitez is quoted as saying by the Mirror.

The Spaniard also revealed that striker Fernando Torres has been struggling with a stomach bug recently and was forced to play against Swansea in midweek because Demba Ba was unable to start due to a hamstring problem. Torres was eventually substituted for Ba after failing to make an impact.

The Blues boss explained:

“Fernando had a stomach bug but he had to play because Demba Ba has a hamstring niggle.

“Demba was great in his first game but we knew the problems and had to manage him. In the lift before the game on Wednesdays he said he could play but not a full game. I couldn’t phone Michael Laudrup to tell him!

“Fernando had the problem but was still training. I went to see him and the doctor and he had to take some tablets but he still gave 100 per cent.

“The problem for Fernando is that because the club paid big money for him everybody was expecting there to be a relation between the money and goals.

“But because he is a top striker defenders are more aware of him and it was hard for him to get chances.

“He has not been at level we were expecting in the last games for different reasons but I’m sure Demba Ba, who is now fine, and Fernando will be a solution for us.” Benitez is quoted as saying by the Mirror.

We’ll have a full match report up on the site shortly, but until then what would your starting line-up be for the Stoke match now we’ve had the team news? Get involved in the comments section below.