The reserves welcome Liverpool to Cobham this afternoon as they aim to continue their impressive start to the league season. It's a game that can be seen live on Chelsea TV.
A 3-2 win at Newcastle just under a fortnight ago followed up a promising display in the 1-1 draw against Everton at Stamford Bridge, and coach Steve Holland is looking to take momentum from those two games into this one, despite missing several key players due to the first team's fixture with Marseille tomorrow night.
'It's a big game, we've had a good start so far,' Holland said. 'It's a shame the game was arranged during a Champions League week, we would have really liked to have played Liverpool with our full strength reserve side against theirs, but both clubs have European games and that will affect the selections I am sure.
'Nevertheless it's not a fixture we are used to, Liverpool are a big club with a reputation for having good younger players so it's one we're looking forward to.'
Having come back from falling behind inside two minutes to snatch a late win at St. James' Park, Holland was delighted with his side's character.
'Particularly when you consider that five of the team that started against the reserves started against the first team the other night,' he pointed out, 'so it was a big group effort on the night, and we'll possibly have Jose Bosingwa in to get some game time.
'He played 55 minutes in a specially-arranged game last Wednesday, and this falls nicely for him, so the plan is that he progresses his fitness with some more time. Other than that it is likely to be a similar squad to that at the Newcastle game which came off the back of the trip to Slovakia.'
That means there will be places in the squad for Adam Phillip and Michael Woods, who have both returned to action after a year on the sidelines. It was Phillip's injury-time penalty that snatched victory in the north-east.
'He's had an awful year in that he's been injured for nearly all of it,' said the coach. 'In his last reserve game he scored a hat-trick at Portsmouth, then got injured in training and hadn't played since, so that was his first time on the pitch and it was a nice moment for him, also for the medical staff, after toiling away for a year.
'It was a nice moment for everybody to get the winner with the last kick of the game. The pair are slowly building up, but it will be slow. When you have been out for a year it has to be step by step and we are being very careful to avoid a setback.'
A 3-2 win at Newcastle just under a fortnight ago followed up a promising display in the 1-1 draw against Everton at Stamford Bridge, and coach Steve Holland is looking to take momentum from those two games into this one, despite missing several key players due to the first team's fixture with Marseille tomorrow night.
'It's a big game, we've had a good start so far,' Holland said. 'It's a shame the game was arranged during a Champions League week, we would have really liked to have played Liverpool with our full strength reserve side against theirs, but both clubs have European games and that will affect the selections I am sure.
'Nevertheless it's not a fixture we are used to, Liverpool are a big club with a reputation for having good younger players so it's one we're looking forward to.'
Having come back from falling behind inside two minutes to snatch a late win at St. James' Park, Holland was delighted with his side's character.
'Particularly when you consider that five of the team that started against the reserves started against the first team the other night,' he pointed out, 'so it was a big group effort on the night, and we'll possibly have Jose Bosingwa in to get some game time.
'He played 55 minutes in a specially-arranged game last Wednesday, and this falls nicely for him, so the plan is that he progresses his fitness with some more time. Other than that it is likely to be a similar squad to that at the Newcastle game which came off the back of the trip to Slovakia.'
That means there will be places in the squad for Adam Phillip and Michael Woods, who have both returned to action after a year on the sidelines. It was Phillip's injury-time penalty that snatched victory in the north-east.
'He's had an awful year in that he's been injured for nearly all of it,' said the coach. 'In his last reserve game he scored a hat-trick at Portsmouth, then got injured in training and hadn't played since, so that was his first time on the pitch and it was a nice moment for him, also for the medical staff, after toiling away for a year.
'It was a nice moment for everybody to get the winner with the last kick of the game. The pair are slowly building up, but it will be slow. When you have been out for a year it has to be step by step and we are being very careful to avoid a setback.'
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