Striker Ruled Out As Chelsea Announce 20-Man Squad For Sporting Lisbon Clash

Didier Drogba has been left back in London as Jose Mourinho and a 20-man squad flew out to Portugal today ahead of Tuesday’s Champions League clash with Sporting Lisbon.

The Ivory Coast international has been struggling with an ankle injury in recent weeks and it appears he’s aggravated the problem in training and has therefore not made the trip to Portugal.

Drogba is joined on the sidelines by Ramires with the midfielder still struggling with a muscle injury that’s seen him miss the last two games. The Brazilian is unlikely to be fit for Saturday’s clash with Arsenal but should return after the upcoming international break.

Star striker Diego Costa was part of the 20-strong squad that left London this afternoon but it remains to be seen whether Mourinho will start him or opt to give the Spaniard a well-earned breather ahead of the Arsenal game as he continues to nurse a troublesome hamstring problem.

The squad that flew out was announced on Chelseafc.com earlier this evening:

Petr Cech
Thibaut Courtois
Mitchell Beeney
Branislav Ivanovic
Filipe Luis
Cesc Fabregas
Kurt Zouma
Nathan Ake
Oscar
Eden Hazard
John Mikel Obi
Andre Schurrle
Mohamed Salah
Loic Remy
Diego Costa
Nemanja Matic
Willian
Gary Cahill
John Terry
Cesar Azpilicueta

It seems certain that Mourinho will rest Costa and with Drogba unavailable, it looks as though Loic Remy is going to make his first full start in Europe following his summer move to Stamford Bridge.