Daniel Sturridge! From VitalFootball:

Some interesting news filtered through courtesy of Chelsea TV tonight!

Instead of training taking its normal shape, a ten-a-side match was organised instead.

Featuring two halves of thirty minutes each, with Carlo Ancelotti as the manager, it gave the perfect opportunity for Frank Lampard to get in some much needed match practice.

As it turned out, Frank played the full sixty minutes and even managed to get on the score sheet as the side he was playing for, lost 5-3 to the other team.

Star of the show though appeared to be Daniel Sturridge who hit a sparkling hat-trick with one goal seeing the youngster chip Petr Cech from the half-way line.

Another burst of speed saw Sturridge skip past Ashley Cole with nonchalant ease.

Also on the score sheet was Gael Kakuta with the only notable absentees from the match being the long term injured duo of Alex and Benayoun and the coming back from injury duo of Zhirkov and Bosingwa.

Sturridge to start against Manchester United?

LINK

can he do it in a match that counts?

can he do it in front of a full house?

did he manage to use his right foot?

Danny's definately getting nearer a first team start and its good to hear about Carlo having some actual games in training...surely with Franks sharpness in mind.

I have defended Kalou again and again but still would not be at all opposed to Sturridge starting against UTD, it does offer the benefit of Kalou against tired legs late on which is always exciting, I'm getting ahead of myself to be honest as the way Nics been playing it would be possible that both Kalou and Sturridge started.

I would imagine Nic will keep his place but he should be looking at the Bench at any activity if he doesn't pull his socks up a bit.

Of course the main purpose of tonight's game was to give Frank a bit of match practice, and to further assess his fitness in the lead up to the game v Man U, in which he's due to start, from what I hear. The question "Sturridge to start v Man U" was posed by the author of the article, but I thought I'd leave it there as a point for discussion.

I would surely welcome it, he did create a lot in the CS when he came on against them and he's willing to create stuff all the time.

As someone said hes getting closer and closer to take that spot from kalou and with some regular matches I could see sturridge becoming a really good player.

Oh if only he could do this in real games... :unsure:

Another burst of speed saw Sturridge skip past Ashley Cole with nonchalant ease.

Well this is clearly all bollocks. :P

Good to see Studge and Kakuta scoring goals, hopefully it starts happening on the pitch too.

Do you think Carlo keeps both eyebrows aloft when managing two teams at once?

Hard for sturridge to reach his potential never getting a run of games. Even if he scores he's back on the bench next fixture. Bit harsh

Match Report from the official site:

TRAINING TIME

Frank Lampard netted a late goal in a training ground match organised for his benefit on Thursday afternoon.

The midfielder converted a Florent Malouda pullback from close range in the late stages of the hour-long game, which pitted two sides from the first team squad against one another.

The major moment of inspiration in the game came from Daniel Sturridge. The England Under 21 international would later score from close range but before that he found the target from inside his own half.

Petr Cech had recently joined the game having completed his session with coach Christophe Lollichon. Spotting the newly-arrived keeper well up the pitch, Sturridge successfully lobbed the ball over his head and into the net from considerable distance.

Cech had a better moment in the second half when he saved a penalty from Salomon Kalou. That man Ramires was the fouled player again, this time by Paulo Ferreira.

Academy products combined for another goal, Jacopo Sala racing away down the right and crossing for Josh McEachran to convert with a first-time finish, before the Englishman turned provider for Gael Kakuta, who swept past Cech after Sturridge had broken quickly from his own half and picked out McEachran in space on the far side.

LINK

So was this the win we've been looking for to restart our title challenge?

Thanks for posting these Hutch, always a good read. I'm surely not alone in thinking that Nico needs some rest. However, if we were about to face any other opposition than Man Utd and Arsenal in the next two weeks I'd realy like for us to use Sturridge, Kalou and Drogba up front.

Also great to hear that McEchran and Kakuta were highly involved

Cech had a better moment in the second half when he saved a penalty from Salomon Kalou

Bloody Cech should've let him score that. Where's your Christmas spirit Petr?:icon_biggrin: