In his pre-match press conference, Chelsea manager Guus Hiddink provided injury updates and spoke of his team’s desire to finish the season strongly.
Chelsea travel to the Vitality Stadium to face 13th placed Bournemouth as they look to bounce back from two consecutive defeats on the trot and get back to winning ways.
Squad Update
Chelsea’s much maligned Belgian has been out injured since the second leg of the Champions League tie against PSG, but he will be involved tomorrow’s trip to Bournemouth.
“He is available and will travel,” Hiddink said in his pre-match press conference. “Not for the whole game, but he’s available to play. This week he trained physically without any complaints, which is a good signal. He was very alive.”
Captain John Terry will also travel to the Vitality Stadium, although the he is not yet ready to play. Guus Hiddink is hopeful he will be available for next week’s London derby against rivals Tottenham.
“Also, John is very committed and he’s annoyed about the injury. He desperately wants to be with the team.”
The manager also gave updates regarding Loic Remy and Kurt Zouma, with more positive news about the latter. He said, “Zouma is working very hard, I like his spirit and the fact he’s trying to come back as soon as possible, but of course not this season. He’s a very tough and encouraging guy.”
Committed
The Chelsea manager, like the fans, is keen to see his side finish the season in the best possible way. With both the league leaders Tottenham and Leicester yet to visit Stamford Bridge, the Blues could still have an effect on where the Premier League trophy goes, and Hiddink says both teams will face tough games against his men.
Speaking to the media, he said, “Every game I see on the training pitch, whether it’s seven-a-side, eight-a-side or 10-a-side they are fully committed to winning, which means they are not fading away, all the games we have, whatever is at stake, Chelsea will play to try to win.”
It will be interesting to see how the travelling Chelsea fans react to Hazard’s return. The Belgian was unceremoniously booed off the pitch by the Blues’ fans at home during the second leg of Chelsea’s Champions League against PSG. In Bournemouth, Chelsea face an interesting team and one of this season’s surprise performers, with the Dorset side surpassing expectations and securing top flight football for another season. They won’t go down without a fight as they look to do the double on the defending champions this term.
