Antonio
Conte insists the FA Cup remains an important part of Chelsea's season
despite his decision to rotate against Hull.
Conte confirmed he will look to alter his starting XI for Friday's FA Cup
fifth round tie ahead of an important week in which Chelsea play their
Champions League first leg tie against Barcelona before facing Manchester
United on Super Sunday.
However, the former Italy manager is adamant the cup tie is equally as
important as their Premier League and Champions League fixtures.
"I think when you start the season every competition is a priority," Conte
said in his pre-match press conference.
"We tried to do the same in the Carabao Cup. We want to fight for every
competition - there is not one priority. There are three for the rest of the
season."
Hulls boss Nigel Adkins admits his injury-hit side will "need a lot of
magic" at Chelsea given their huge list of absentees.
"We've probably got 12 on the injured list," Hull boss Adkins said on
Thursday, the day after midfielder Ryan Mason announced his retirement due
to the fractured skull sustained at Chelsea last January.
"We're going to have to change the team around again. We need a lot of magic
to help us, let's face it, because they're an outstanding team.
"We're going there under no illusions but it's the FA Cup and anything's
possible."
Team news
Tiemoue Bakayoko, David Luiz and Ross Barkley are unavailable to Conte as
they are all out through injury.
For Hull, Markus Henriksen (ankle), Ondrej Mazuch (hamstring), Moses Odubajo
and James Weir (both knee) remain out injured, while Abel Hernandez
(Achilles), Kamil Grosicki (ankle) Stephen Kingsley and Michael Dawson (both
groin) are coming back from issues of their own.
On-loan Chelsea trio Michael Hector, Ola Aina and Fikayo Tomori are
ineligible to face their parent club, while experienced midfielder Seb
Larsson is suspended.
Opta stats
This will be the first FA Cup meeting between these two sides since a
third-round match in December 1999; Chelsea won 6-1 away from home - their
joint-biggest away win in the competition and the only time they've scored
six on the road in the competition.
In all competitions, the Blues have never lost at home against Hull City,
winning 17 and drawing five - winning each of their last four.
Chelsea have progressed from nine of their last 10 fifth round FA Cup ties,
with their only loss coming against Manchester City in 2014.
The Tigers have won only three of their last 19 FA Cup ties against
top-flight opponents, including the 2014 final. However, they won their most
recent encounter in January 2017, beating Swansea City 2-0.
The Blues have scored 127 goals in 44 FA Cup games at Stamford Bridge since
last failing to score at home in March 1999 (averaging 2.9 goals).
Hull have kept four clean sheets in their last seven matches under Nigel
Adkins, having kept just four across the 30 games preceding this run.
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