Carlo Ancelotti has been talking injuries ahead of the West Ham game as he welcomes Yury Zhirkov back into his squad and prepares to give a Chelsea league debut to Ross Turnbull.
Hilario has a groin injury suffered in the match against Stoke last weekend and has not trained all week. He is a doubt to face Inter on Tuesday and will not play tomorrow (Saturday).
Ricardo Carvalho is also out of the West Ham match as he recovers from a hamstring niggle but injuries apart, Ancelotti will be fielding his strongest team.
'We need to come back to the top of the table and so I want to put the best line-up out,' confirmed the Chelsea manager after Friday's training.
'We have some problems because we have injuries to some players, but I am not worried. I have trust in Turnbull. He hasn't played a lot of games but with our goalkeeper coach, he has improved very well.'
The 25-year-old has made two Chelsea appearances since signing from Middlesbrough in the summer.One was a full 90 minutes in a 2-2 draw against APOEL at the Bridge in the Champions League. He also came on midway through the first half of the Carling Cup win at home to Bolton when Hilario was injured and kept a clean sheet.
He last played in the Barclays Premier League when Boro lost at the Bridge in January 2009.
The goalkeeper on the bench will be Rhys Taylor, a 19-year-old from the reserve squad who played in the FA Youth Cup Final two years ago and was an unused sub for three first-team games during the Christmas and New Year period 2007/08.
'Yury Zhirkov is fit,' Ancelotti reported. 'He trained very well this week and has recovered completely. He can play tomorrow and also Tuesday and I don't think Carvalho has a problem for Tuesday.
'Maybe we will have a problem with goalkeepers because we don't know about Hilario and Petr Cech is doing physio but he hasn't trained on the pitch, so it is very difficult for him to recover for Tuesday.'
Ancelotti also had news on more long-term injured Ashley Cole and Michael Essien. They return to Cobham today from their rehabilitation in France after surgery.
Essien after an initial complication that has put his recovery back three to four weeks is progressing well.
'We are sure that he will play before the end of this season if his recovery continues without roblem.Ashley Cole is doing very good recovery, very fast. We have to look at him but we hope to have him before the three months.'
That was the time period initially predicted for the left-back's recovery. While he is considering his own injured players, Ancelotti has empathy for his opposite number this weekend, Gianfranco Zola.
'It is not easy for him because he has had a lot of injuries. Now, after the recovery of Carlton Cole, they have the possibility to play well until the end of the season. I hope West Ham stay in the Premier League because I think Gianfranco did a very good job this season. It is a very difficult job but he didn't lose his focus.
'The last Italian manager we played against beat me, but I am happy to meet my ex-player.'
Hilario has a groin injury suffered in the match against Stoke last weekend and has not trained all week. He is a doubt to face Inter on Tuesday and will not play tomorrow (Saturday).
Ricardo Carvalho is also out of the West Ham match as he recovers from a hamstring niggle but injuries apart, Ancelotti will be fielding his strongest team.
'We need to come back to the top of the table and so I want to put the best line-up out,' confirmed the Chelsea manager after Friday's training.
'We have some problems because we have injuries to some players, but I am not worried. I have trust in Turnbull. He hasn't played a lot of games but with our goalkeeper coach, he has improved very well.'
The 25-year-old has made two Chelsea appearances since signing from Middlesbrough in the summer.One was a full 90 minutes in a 2-2 draw against APOEL at the Bridge in the Champions League. He also came on midway through the first half of the Carling Cup win at home to Bolton when Hilario was injured and kept a clean sheet.
He last played in the Barclays Premier League when Boro lost at the Bridge in January 2009.
The goalkeeper on the bench will be Rhys Taylor, a 19-year-old from the reserve squad who played in the FA Youth Cup Final two years ago and was an unused sub for three first-team games during the Christmas and New Year period 2007/08.
'Yury Zhirkov is fit,' Ancelotti reported. 'He trained very well this week and has recovered completely. He can play tomorrow and also Tuesday and I don't think Carvalho has a problem for Tuesday.
'Maybe we will have a problem with goalkeepers because we don't know about Hilario and Petr Cech is doing physio but he hasn't trained on the pitch, so it is very difficult for him to recover for Tuesday.'
Ancelotti also had news on more long-term injured Ashley Cole and Michael Essien. They return to Cobham today from their rehabilitation in France after surgery.
Essien after an initial complication that has put his recovery back three to four weeks is progressing well.
'We are sure that he will play before the end of this season if his recovery continues without roblem.Ashley Cole is doing very good recovery, very fast. We have to look at him but we hope to have him before the three months.'
That was the time period initially predicted for the left-back's recovery. While he is considering his own injured players, Ancelotti has empathy for his opposite number this weekend, Gianfranco Zola.
'It is not easy for him because he has had a lot of injuries. Now, after the recovery of Carlton Cole, they have the possibility to play well until the end of the season. I hope West Ham stay in the Premier League because I think Gianfranco did a very good job this season. It is a very difficult job but he didn't lose his focus.
'The last Italian manager we played against beat me, but I am happy to meet my ex-player.'
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