Chelseas Jose Mourinho poised to sacrifice Manchester City FA Cup tie to rest stars for run-in Terry, Ramires, Hazard, Oscar, Etoo, Matic and Cahill could miss last-16 tie as competition is clubs No.3 priority behind the title and Champions League Its a knockout: Losing to City on Saturday could even give Chelsea a title-race advantage Jose Mourinho is ready to risk an FA Cup embarrassment at Manchester City on Saturday as he targets the Premier League title. After losing calf-injury victim Gary Cahill for Chelseas second trip to the Etihad in 12 days, Mourinho is weighing up giving his centre-back partner and skipper John Terry extra time off to ensure he is fit for their next league game, at home to Everton on February 22, and the Champions League trip to Galatasaray four days later. Terry, who had played every minute of this Premier League season until he sat out the weekend win over Newcastle, was badly missed on Tuesday as the Blues let two vital points slip at West Brom. The Chelsea skipper is keen to return to action after what Mourinho has described as a double muscle injury sustained in training last Friday. But the Portuguese is aware that a recurrence of the injury against City, or rushing the 33-year-old to get him back, could lead to a longer absence at a pivotal point in the season. Mourinho is also keen to give Ashley Cole, John Obi Mikel, Frank Lampard, Andre Schurrle, new signing Mohamed Salah and fit-again Fernando Torres starts, to ensure they are match-fit for the business end of the Londoners season. That means likely rests for Ramires, Eden Hazard, Oscar and Samuel Etoo, while £21million January recruit Nemanja Matic limped out of The Hawthorns following Tuesdays game. The Chelsea boss knows the FA Cup is very much in third place on the clubs priority list and that even defeat to City on Saturday would give his side a chance to steal a march on their title rivals by beating already-out Tottenham on March 8 - quarter-final weekend. After Citys Wednesday game with Sunderland was postponed because of bad weather, they could be two matches behind Chelsea, with extra pressure on them to win those games if Mourinhos side take advantage of the Spurs fixture. Mourinho suggested his troops lacked the personality normally exemplified by the absent Terry as they threw away a 1-0 victory over the Baggies. Cahills calf was a significant concern in the aftermath of Tuesdays match - although the 28-year-old seemed more worried about the Londoners loss of title-race momentum. There was real frustration that we couldnt get three points. It was tough, said Cahill. If youre the home team and behind [as West Brom were], youve got nothing to lose going into the last 20 minutes. Anything can happen when you push players up and they got the point. We had control for long periods and if wed scored a second goal, it was over. We just needed that second. -LEO-
Posted on: Thu, 13 Feb 2014 10:30:01 +0000
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