Mourinho’s Team News & Injury Update: Torres, Schurrle, Cole & More…

Premier League action returns after the international break as Chelsea entertain Cardiff City at Stamford Bridge on Saturday afternoon.

Ahead of the game, Blues boss Jose Mourinho has been holding his pre-match press conference in front of the media on Friday morning and he gave Chelseafc.com the latest injury news with updates on the fitness of Fernando Torres, Ashley Cole and Andre Schurrle.

The good news is that striker Torres has recovered from a knee injury suffered away at Steaua Bucharest and is back in the squad to face Cardiff tomorrow. Mourinho refused to confirm whether the former Liverpool hitman would start or not, with Demba Ba and Samuel Eto’o also in contention.

The Chelsea boss told reporters today:

“He’s [Torres] ready. The medical department are good and the player is very good. Good dedication. He’s back.

“We have the three [strikers] available. I want to have problems by having players to choose.

“I don’t want an easy selection. I want a difficult selection. [Fernando] Torres, [Samuel] Eto’o and Demba [Ba] are all ready.

“We have three competitions at the same time and we are very pleased that people put our game against Arsenal on the day after the game against Man City.

“He could start. I was doing tactical work but I was not wanting to show the player who is going to play. They don’t know who is going to play.”

However, the bad news is that both Cole and Schurrle will miss out. Cole missed England’s World Cup qualifying double-header with a rib injury and is now also a big doubt for next weeks Champions League clash with Schalke. Mourinho confirmed that Ryan Bertrand will deputise at left-back. He added:

“Ashley is not selected. I don’t know [when he will return] – it depends on the pain. It’s not dangerous but it’s very painful. At this moment the pain persists and he can’t train.

“If he can train on Monday and be a choice for Champions League – I have my doubts.”

“Bertrand is ready,” he said. “He’s going to play his first minute in the Premier League this season.

“I never gave him a chance because I wanted to keep stability. I was trying to give stability to the team and kept that back four for every game.

“[Cesar] Azpilicueta and Bertrand are very good players. I want to have Ashley back but Bertrand is more than ready.”

Attacker Schurrle was in stunning form for his country in midweek, scoring a hat-trick as Germany beat Sweden 5-3 on Tuesday, but it seems he’s picked up a knock during the game and has now been ruled of this weekends action, but Mourinho is confident he has other options who can fill in:

“It’s a kind of problem that happens a lot in World Cup years,” he said.

“A player with a little problem wants to play for his country and returns to the club.

“He has a little problem in a [leg] muscle and we can not risk. It’s no problem because he was in very good form.

“We have other players and options. It’s not a problem. It’s a position where we have good enough problems. It’s a chance for someone else.”

So Chelsea have mixed injury news as they prepare to face Cardiff with Mourinho hoping to keep up the pressure on league leaders Arsenal and Liverpool.

What would be your starting eleven for the game? Share your views below.