John
Terry and Eden Hazard will be given the night off on Wednesday when Chelsea
host Sporting Lisbon in the Champions League.
Jose Mourinho's side are already guaranteed top spot in Group G, and the
manager will take the opportunity to rest some players in the wake of his
side's first defeat of the season at Newcastle on Saturday.
Terry, Hazard and Brazilian forward Willian all sat out training at Cobham
on Tuesday and none of the three will be involved on Wednesday, but Diego
Costa will start the game.
Teenage midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek is in the squad and will feature at
some stage, and the academy product was selected to face the media alongside
Mourinho on Tuesday.
He said: "I've been at the club since I was eight so to be involved and
training with the first team means a lot to me. We've got some good talent
coming through, it won't be easy to make the breakthrough but we have to be
positive.
Opportunities
"All the young players are excited to be getting opportunities and we're
confident in our ability to do well."
Mourinho confirmed he is planning to include Loftus-Cheek in the first-team
squad on a permanent basis from January.
He said: "I am so happy to give the kids a chance. He is an English player,
18, completely made in Chelsea. If he succeeds it's good.
"Terry, Willian and Hazard are on holidays. I would like to give the whole
squad the time off but these three play all the time and I have good
solutions for these positions.
"We have so many matches to play in December and we are one of the few teams
in the Premier League that also plays the Capital One Cup in this moment. Of
the other teams involved in the Champions League only Liverpool is also in
the Capital One Cup.
"Everybody has periods to rest we don't have. This game gives me the chance
to rest these three players. We had already the fifth yellow card to Diego
(Costa), the fifth yellow card to Matic and now the fifth yellow card to
Fabregas, which give them a rest.
"Step by step match after match we are trying to find a little period for
them to breathe and to face this second part of the December month."
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