Venue: Ewood Park
Date: Sunday, 21 March 2010
Kick-off: 1600 GMT
Well, we might have gone out in the Champions League but now’s the time to pick ourselves up and get a bit of pride back. Today’s trip to Blackburn gives us the opportunity to do that but it’s up to the players to show they still have the ability to bounce back.
MANAGERS’ VIEWS
Going into this game, Blackburn manager Sam Allardyce is undecided which way our Champions League game will affect us, stating “I’m not sure it’s a good time to play them but the only thing we do know is that they are going to tire later on in the game. They put a huge amount of effort in against Inter Milan so there will be some physical and mental fatigue, so we have to make sure we are in there with a shout for the last quarter of the game. Chelsea have had a massive kick up the backside and didn’t expect to lose that game and get knocked out of the Champions League, and they are now a wounded animal that you have got to protect against.”
Carlo Ancelotti meanwhile seems to be ready to put the Champions League behind us and concentrate on what’s left to play for, stating “We have a very important trophy again to pursue. We are in the semi-finals of the FA Cup and, maybe, two points behind Manchester United but with a game in hand. So our destiny is in our own hands. If we win every game, we can do the double. It’s to put a new motivation in all the club, to shift the objectives because we were focused on the Champions League and now we’ve changed our aim. I think to think you can do a Double is a good motivation for everyone at this club. If we want to do this, we have 11 games. That’s very difficult, but we can try to do this. That’s very important, to think about this. It’s not easy, but we can think about this and do our best. That’s our aim.”
SQUAD NEWS
For Blackburn, Paul Robinson (calf), Ryan Nelsen (knee), Gael Givet (groin), Lars Jacobsen (hernia) and Vince Grella (calf) are all missing while loan striker Franco di Santo cannot play against us.
For Chelsea, Michael Essien (knee), Ashley Cole (ankle) and Jose Bosingwa (knee) all remain out. Petr Cech trained on Friday but remains a doubt and he will undergo a late fitness test on his calf injury. Hilario is also a doubt with a groin strain.
TEAMS
BLACKBURN (from): Brown, Dunn, Olsson, Salgado, Pedersen, Nzonzi, Hoilett, Roberts, Diouf, Andrews, Kalinic, Dunn, Chimbonda, Basturk, Samba, Emerton, Jones.
CHELSEA (from): Turnbull, Taylor, Cech, Ivanovic, Kalou, Alex, Drogba, Malouda, Terry, Carvalho, Borini, Lampard, Obi, Deco, Anelka, Zhirkov, J Cole, Belletti, Ballack, Kakuta, Sturridge, Ferreira.
LAST MEETING
Chelsea 5-0 Blackburn (October 24th 2009)
PREDICTION
We’ve had mixed fortunes against Blackburn this season, thumping them 5-0 at Stamford Bridge back in October but then going out of the Carling Cup against them on penalties. So, this one is anyone’s call.
REFEREE
Steve Bennett
Blue is the colour
