Jose Mourinho is apparently ready to risk an FA Cup embarrassment at The Etihad on Saturday as he targets the Premier League title.
Terry, Ramires, Hazard, Oscar, Eto’o, Matic and Cahill look set to miss the last 16 match up against Premier League rivals Man City. The reason being that the cup is only the #3 priority behind the League title and Champions league for Mourinho’s men.
After losing CB Gary Cahill to a calf injury for Chelsea’s last trip to the Etihad, he is considering giving Cahill and defensive partner John Terry extra time off to ensure they are ready for the home clash against Everton on February 27th as well as the Champions League away game to Turkish giants Galatasaray 4 days later.
Terry who had prior to last weekends game against Newcastle, played every minute of the season so far, was a noticeable absentee on tuesday night as Chelsea dropped two points by drawing 1-1 with West Brom.
The Chelsea skipper has been out due to an injury which manager Mourinho described as a “double muscle injury” which was sustained during training on Friday.
Mourinho also intends to give starts to Ashley Cole, John Obi Mikel, Andre Schurrle, back to fitness Fernando Torres and new signing Mohamed Salah, in order to ensure they are match fit for the last part of the season.
That means Mourinho will likely rest Ramires, Hazard, Oscar and Samuel Eto’o while £21,000,000 January signing Nemanja Matic appeared injured as he limped off the field at The Hawthorns on Tuesday.
Mourinho knows the FA Cup is very much in third place in the club’s priority list. Mourinho suggested that his players lacked the “personality” that is normally shown by Terry as they threw away a 1-0 lead against West Brom.
“There was real frustration that we couldn’t get three points. It was tough” Said CB Gary Cahill. “If you’re the home team and behind (like West Brom were), you’ve 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 we’d scored a second goal, it was over. We just needed that second”
