Essien and Cole face late calls

SOCCER CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: Spartak Moscow v Chelsea:CARLO ANCELOTTI will assess Ashley Cole and Michael Essien today to determine whether either suffered any lingering effects from last night's training session on the artificial pitch at the Luzhniki Stadium before deciding whether to risk the pair against Spartak Moscow.

Chelsea revisit the scene of their defeat by Manchester United in the Champions League final in 2008 with their squad already severely depleted by injury and illness. Ramires will return home today as he is still suffering from pain after damaging his ankle at Aston Villa on Saturday and, although Cole and Essien have excelled this season, Ancelotti is wary of their history of ankle and knee complaints respectively.

The manager has expressed concern given that the pitch, a sixth-generation synthetic turf, might be less forgiving on joints than a natural surface.

With that in mind the right-back, Jose Bosingwa, was left at home yesterday having returned only on Saturday from a year out with a knee ligament injury.

Whereas Essien has suffered ligament and cartilage problems in his knees which have sidelined him for lengthy periods in each of the last two seasons, Cole’s ankle problems are more long-standing. He required surgery to clear a floating bone in the joint after his first season at Stamford Bridge but has still been troubled by ankle problems in the years since and suffered a fracture in a challenge with Everton’s Landon Donovan in February that kept him out for over two months.

He is now granted extra recovery time after games, though Ancelotti must determine whether he should be risked at all this evening. “We have to monitor his ankle,” said the Chelsea manager. “We already have to control that problem and he needs to have more days to recover. You have to try and prevent more problems.

“This pitch is different. We will see how he reacts to the practice session and see if we can control his condition on a pitch of this kind. It is the same for Essien, who had a big problem with his knee. We will make a decision on the day of the game when we know whether they found it comfortable or not playing on this pitch. We have to see what happens once they have run on this surface.”

Cole had reflected over the weekend on the discomfort caused by his ankle. “I’m 29 but I feel like 35 or 40,” he said. “At the minute I’m just taking it year on year and seeing how the body is. It’s hard getting up in the mornings but I hope to have another four years and, hopefully, a few more medals and to win the Champions League.”

Chelsea have never come closer to achieving that last goal than when they succumbed to United on penalties at the Luzhniki – on a natural surface – and their first return to this arena is sure to provoke unhappy memories for John Terry and Nicolas Anelka, who missed their side’s decisive penalties that night. The French forward will take any spot-kick earned tonight in the absence of Didier Drogba and Frank Lampard.

“We hope John Terry will slip again,” joked the Spartak manager, Valeri Karpin, when asked whether the artificial surface would be to the hosts’ advantage. Terry had ended that evening in tears as he struggled to come to terms with striking a post when a first European Cup beckoned. The captain subsequently claimed he would “not die a happy man until we win that trophy”, though Ancelotti said that memory could provide inspiration ahead of this return.

“We haven’t spoken about that final here – maybe we will on the day of the game – but I have no problem with a player crying because that is him showing his emotions. Coming through bad moments like that improves your character because you find new motivation for the future. That memory can be a fantastic motivation for our future,” he said.

Guardian Service