Hilario injured

[sals]

Chelsea have been plunged into a goalkeeping crisis ahead of Tuesday night's Champions League return leg against Jose Mourinho's Inter Milan.

Chelsea lost first-choice goalkeeper Petr Cech with a calf strain in the 2-1 opening leg defeat at the San Siro and deputy Hilario collected an abductor injury during last Sunday's 2-0 FA Cup quarter-final victory over Stoke.

The injuries have left the Blues with just Ross Turnbull and Rhys Taylor available for tomorrow's Barclays Premier League clash with West Ham.

The pair are likely to be on duty against Milan in their return last-16 tie as coach Carlo Ancelotti admits it is unlikely Hilario or Cech will have recovered in time to play.

The loss of Hilario is a real blow for Ancelotti as Turnbull has made just two appearances for the club this season.

Turnbull, who joined on a free transfer from Middlesbrough last summer, played in the 4-0 Carling Cup win over Bolton and Chelsea's 2-2 draw with APOEL in this season's Champions League group stage.

'We have a problem with the goalkeepers,' admitted Ancelotti. 'We don't know if Hilario or Petr are able to play on Tuesday.

'Tomorrow I want to put the best line-up out because it's an important game. We don't have to think about the Inter game.

'We need to win and go back to the top of the table, so I want to put the best players out. But we have problems. Michael Essien, Ashley Cole, and Jose Bosingwa are out. Also Ricardo Carvalho and Hilario is not able to play. So, in goal, Turnbull will play.

'Cech is doing physiotherapy. He did not train on the pitch, so it's very difficult for him to recover for Tuesday.

'Hilario had a problem against Stoke and has not been able to train this week. An Adductor muscle in his groin is the problem. On the bench will go Rhys Taylor, our young goalkeeper from the reserve team.

'I'm not worried. The performance of the team does not rely upon the goalkeeper. I don't want to say we can play without a goalkeeper, because that's an important player for the team, but I have confidence in Turnbull.

'He has not played a lot of games this season but, with the work with our goalkeeping coach, he has improved very well.

'I have no problem about playing Turnbull against Inter Milan.'

Chelsea return to Barclays Premier League action against London rivals West Ham tomorrow and that means a re-union with Gianfranco Zola.

Zola may never have arrived in the English top flight as a player with Chelsea if Ancelotti had found a way to accommodate the Italian in his Parma side back in 1996. But Zola found himself played out of position and left for Stamford Bridge where he became a legend.

The Italian has struggled to guide West Ham out of danger at the wrong end of the Barclays Premier but following their recent takeover by David Gold and David Sullivan, things are improving.

West Ham's recent home form had been impressive but their defeat to Bolton last weekend could not have come at a worse time for the Hammers with visits to Chelsea and Arsenal next in line.

'It was not an easy season for Gianfranco because he's had a lot of injuries, but now, after the recovery of Carlton Cole, they have more possibility to finish the season well,' said Ancelotti.

'I hope that West Ham stay in the Premier League because I think Zola did a good job this season. A very difficult job, but he didn't lose his confidence or his focus.'

But Ancelotti would not be drawn on whether former West Ham midfielder Joe Cole would play against his old club.

Cole's current contract expires in the summer and the England international has yet to agree an extension.

The player's chances of grabbing a place in Fabio Capello's World Cup squad for the finals in South Africa this summer will not be helped by a lack of first team football. Cole spent the entire game on the bench as Chelsea defeated Stoke in the FA Cup quarter-finals last Sunday and Ancelotti added: 'I think that he's keeping a very good mental attitude.

Also when he's a substitute he doesn't lose his confidence, he doesn't lose his mental attitude to work very hard. He's a very important player for us. When he's involved in the squad he has his team-mates to stay focused. I hope he will improve and he can play other important games'

Yuri Zhirkov will also return to the Blues' starting line-up against West Ham, whose striker Carlton Cole has revealed he cannot wait to test himself against John Terry.

The Hammers' striker, who has nine goals to his name this season and is pushing for a spot in Fabio Capello's World Cup squad, is so confident that he has backed himself to come out on top in a duel with the ex-England skipper.

'I think, if I'm 100 per cent then I can match up against anybody,' Cole told WHUTV. 'I know what I'm capable of and if I'm at 100 per cent, then I can do some damage against anyone I play against.

'It's up to me and about how I am on the day. I don't ever look at the other players who I'm playing against because it's all about me and if I'm on the game.'

Cole added: 'If we can get any kind of result at Chelsea - or Arsenal - it would be a real morale boost for us.

'The players have been working really hard this week. We have been put through our paces, because we know the result against Bolton was not good enough and we need to pull our fingers out and get something out of these games that are coming up.'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/...nter-Milan.html

As if i wasnt worried enough having hilario in goal. This could hurt us big time in the league as well. Here's hoping he steps up to the challenge

Edited March 12, 2010 by sals

[jcm28]

Maybe this turns out to be the start of great things for Turnbull in the club. Who knows?

[BlueBeard]

Look on the bright side, he can't be any worse than Tommy Hughes :unsure:

[mad_mac]

My hopes of us progressing in the CL and Premiership have just taken a bit of a downturn

[BlueDay]

You have to remember lads, Turnbull has played a whole season of Premiership football putting out solid performances week in week out with Middlesborough. Which is a lot more than Hilario has done.

I think we'll be alright.

[SPARTACUS]

after hilario injury, cech must play even with one leg

[steve25cfc]

You have to remember lads, Turnbull has played a whole season of Premiership football putting out solid performances week in week out with Middlesborough. Which is a lot more than Hilario has done.

I think we'll be alright.

agreed, if the defence plays as they should we'll be o.k.

lets give turnbull a break & get behind him today

[ethicalstrategy]

I don't think we should worry unduly. In any case, we don't have a choice so we just have to get on with it. If we play well and score 5 then an error won't matter anyway.

[Tim W]

My hopes of us progressing in the CL and Premiership have just taken a bit of a downturn

Come on Scott, chin up there's a boy.

[kalpitv]

Squeeky bum time I guess?

Chance for Turnbull to show his worth. Hopefully he'll make the most of it.

Ironically, the last time he started in the league was at the Bridge over a year ago when Boro lost to us.

[Maksimov]

With the way things are going at the moment, I can't help thinking what if Turnbull gets injured as well? Rhys Taylor to start against Inter? I hope I haven't just jinxed it, but I can't help feeling a little pessimistic at the moment.

Hopefully Turnbull does well today and builds up some confidence because he's going to need it against Inter.

[Ruh Buh Juh]

If the defence holds up, then I don't see too many problems coming our way today. I am glad that Rhys Taylor is on the bench, he's a very very promising young Welshman.

[bluevale2]

Look on the bright side, he can't be any worse than Tommy Hughes ;)

or Bob Iles

[Zola]

Turnbull did well today, not much to do granted, but looked very composed and no issues.

[The Moos]

Turnbull did well today, not much to do granted, but looked very composed and no issues.

Apart from the goal they scored where he had his positioning all wrong.

[mad_mac]

Mos,

if you are a keeper and the ball is that far out of play, 9 times out of 10 you wil be in the middle of your area trying to cut down any potential angles. The last thing you expect is a thunderbolt from that far out. Remember Drogba's goal against Everton a couple of seasons ago, same thing there; however, some idiot pundits were trying to take it away from Drogs and say it was "poor Everton defending!"

Lets just give credit where it's due and say Scotty Parker scored a fantastic goal against us

Scott

[sals]

nothing he could do about the goal, caught a couple of crosses with confidence and made one decent save at the end. Should give him a bit of confidence before inter

[Chippy]

Mos,

if you are a keeper and the ball is that far out of play, 9 times out of 10 you wil be in the middle of your area trying to cut down any potential angles. The last thing you expect is a thunderbolt from that far out. Remember Drogba's goal against Everton a couple of seasons ago, same thing there; however, some idiot pundits were trying to take it away from Drogs and say it was "poor Everton defending!"

Lets just give credit where it's due and say Scotty Parker scored a fantastic goal against us

Scott

Spot on

If he'd have been rooted to his line he would have likely saved it..but his positioning would have been all wrong.

He came out to narrow the angle and Scotty hit a cracker with perfect dip, can't take that away from him and I don't think Ross should give it another thought.

[The Moos]

Mos,

if you are a keeper and the ball is that far out of play, 9 times out of 10 you wil be in the middle of your area trying to cut down any potential angles. The last thing you expect is a thunderbolt from that far out. Remember Drogba's goal against Everton a couple of seasons ago, same thing there; however, some idiot pundits were trying to take it away from Drogs and say it was "poor Everton defending!"

Lets just give credit where it's due and say Scotty Parker scored a fantastic goal against us

Scott

The thing is, he wasn't in the middle of the area, was he? On the replays I've seen he looks to be positioned towards his right post.

He came out to cut down the angles, which is the right thing to do, but if he's not in the middle he's gonna leave way too much space on one side.

Also, a keeper should always expect anything. A shot from that distance isn't unusual and even if Parker would have been in the middle of the pitch the keeper should not relax too much.

[BlueDay]

The thing is, he wasn't in the middle of the area, was he? On the replays I've seen he looks to be positioned towards his right post.

He came out to cut down the angles, which is the right thing to do, but if he's not in the middle he's gonna leave way too much space on one side.

Also, a keeper should always expect anything. A shot from that distance isn't unusual and even if Parker would have been in the middle of the pitch the keeper should not relax too much.

He wouldnt of saved it if he was perfectly aligned to the middle of the goal.

You cant really expect a 3rd choice to keeper to save a wonder strike having not played a competitive match for months and a strike that our 1st choice keeper would of probably let in.

[jcm28]

I can't say if he did well because he really didnt have to do much. I guess we'll see on tuesday.

[geezer]

The boy did okay and wasn't at fault for the goal despite what Moos says. Our own midfield should never have let the strike happen in the first place.

[dkw]

i thought he did quite well overall and certainly cant be held accountable for parkers goal. he came for crosses and corners well and distributed the ball decently.

[mad_mac]

I was impressed, DKW, with one or two of his claims. They were high balls floated into the area, the ones that Cech has been a little less than comfortable with. Turnbull came and claimed with great confidence. Now, I'm not for a moment suggesting that Cech's position is in danger, but I must give credit where credit is due. Still doesn't mean that I am filled with confidence about Ross as a keeper.

Scott

[sankey]

certainly he didn't do much in the West Ham game to have a clear picture of how he will be fairing. However, the postive thing he that he did look very natural and comfortable in goal compared to Hilario, suprisingingly even to Cech