Chelsea stalwart Cole frets over Atletico start

Ashley Cole fears that he may not start the first leg of Chelsea's Champions League semi-final at Atletico Madrid, as Jose Mourinho explores his options to replace the suspended Branislav Ivanovic.

The Serb picked up his third booking of the competition in the rousing 2-0 quarter-final success over Paris Saint-Germain and will serve his one-match ban for the game at the Vicente Calderon stadium.

His absence would normally prompt Cesar Azpilicueta to swap to his natural right-back berth, with Cole restored at left-back. Yet the 33-year-old has played only 12 minutes since injuring his knee in training after England’s friendly success over Denmark in the first week in March, with his inclusion now far from guaranteed.

Chelsea host Sunderland at Stamford Bridge today hoping to go top of the league, albeit potentially temporarily.

Settled side
Assistant first-team coach

Steve Holland suggested they will avoid wholesale changes to their line-up with Tuesday’s game in mind. That would most likely mean Azpilicueta retained at left back, with Ivanovic, Nemanja Matic and Mohamed Salah – all ineligible next week – expected to start.

Eden Hazard will be absent as he continues his rehabilitation from the calf injury sustained against PSG at Stamford Bridge, with the onus on the Belgian to play some part in full training on Monday morning if he is to feature against Atletico.

"Normal procedure would be not to ask a player to play in a game if he hasn't done any training prior to that match," said Holland. "He has to train with the group in the next couple of days [to feature in Madrid]. "The injury is very low on the calf, almost at the back of his Achilles, and it's quite deep. It's an unusual calf injury."
Guardian Service