Chelsea Team News: Mourinho Confirms Major Injury Boost Ahead Of Everton Game

Chelsea continue their march towards the Premier League title when they entertain Everton at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday night.

Ahead of the game, Jose Mourinho has been speaking to Chelseafc.com this afternoon and gave the clubs website a team news and injury update.

The Portuguese coach confirmed a major injury boost with Cesc Fabregas set to return to squad after missing the last two games with a hamstring injury.

The Spanish international was forced off early in the second half of Chelsea’s Capital One Cup win over Liverpool two weeks ago and has missed the subsequent games against Manchester City and Aston Villa

It sounds as though Fabregas was close to being selected at Villa Park but with Willian also carrying a knock, Mourinho decided not to risk him but he’ll be in contention on Wednesday.

The Blues boss told the clubs website:

‘I think he [Fabregas] plays Wednesday because on Saturday it was a decision to protect him.

‘We didn’t want to risk two players at the same time. We risked with Willian and to start two players with a risk is a big gamble and we gambled with only one.’

Ramires replaced Fabregas against Liverpool and has started alongside Nemanja Matic in midfield for the past two games and Mourinho has reserved special praise for the Brazilian, saying he’s now back to his best after a frustrating few months carrying a niggling injury.

Mourinho continued:

‘The best Ramires is back and the best Ramires played against Liverpool, Man City and Aston Villa,’

‘He is a different profile of player [compared with Fabregas] but he is a fantastic player for us.’

It will be a big boost for Chelsea to have Fabregas back but it remains to be seen whether he replaces Ramires in midfield or he’s deployed in a more advanced role – a position he’s played in some of the big games this season.

There was no update on the fitness of Filipe Luis so we’ll have to assume he’s still out with a calf injury but Gary Cahill is expected to shake-off a knock following a collision with John Obi Mikel on Saturday.

Chelsea head into the midweek fixtures holding a seven point lead at the top of the table after seeing Manchester City held at home to Hull, so Mourinho will be hoping to at least maintain that advantage with another win over Everton.