Chelsea Team News & Injury Update: Latest On Cahill, Cole, Ba & More…

Chelsea welcome Rubin Kazan to Stamford Bridge on Thursday night for the first leg of their Europa League quarter final clash.

Boss Rafa Benitez has been holding his pre-match press conference on Wednesday ahead of the game and gave reporters a team news and injury update including the latest on Gary Cahill and Ashley Cole.

As feared, Cole will be missing for at least two weeks after pulling his hamstring during Monday’s 1-0 FA Cup quarter final replay win over Manchester United at Stamford Bridge.

The left-back was rested for Saturday’s Premier League defeat to Southampton in order to play against United but the 32-year-old was forced off early in the first half and is now expected to join fellow defender Cahill on the sidelines for at least 14 days.

Benitez’s men face Rubin Kazan on Thursday but will have to make do without the services of striker Demba Ba – who is ineligible after playing for former club Newcastle in a previous round earlier in the season. Here’s what Benitez is quoted as saying by the Daily Mail:

‘I’d say at least two weeks for both Ashley Cole and Gary Cahill. We are without Oriol Romeu as you know and Demba Ba cannot play. That’s it.

‘You train to do little things because you do not have much time and you cannot push too hard.

‘We concentrate one game at a time so we pick a team who can win any game and concentrate on this game. They have to be ready for any game.

Cahill’s absence isn’t expected to pose too many problems with Benitez able to rotate Branislav Ivanovic, John Terry and David Luiz over the coming games but Cole’s injury means Ryan Bertrand may be forced to play four times in just eight days. Fernando Torres will come in for Monday’s goal-scoring hero Ba.

Now we’ve seen the team news what would be your preferred starting eleven for the game? Get involved in the comments section below.