Chelsea will 'respect' Chesterfield as Thomas Tuchel suggests Timo Werner could play in FA Cup tie - team news

Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel.Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel.
Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel.
Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel says they will ‘respect’ Chesterfield and that it would be ‘hugely arrogant’ not to.

The Spireites take on the European champions at Stamford Bridge in the FA Cup third round on Saturday.

If Town were somehow to win, it would be one of the greatest sporting shocks of all time.

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"You can lose any game in football which is why the game is so popular so you will never hear me say we cannot lose, that would be hugely arrogant. This is not the attitude of how we wan to approach this game tomorrow. Of course we are favourites.

"It is the opposite to Germany where the home advantage goes to the lower team. We have the advantage of having no travel and that we can play in front of our spectators in our stadium.

"Yes, we are the huge favourites and we want to win and we demand it from ourselves but we will still respect the game and any opponent.

"We need to be ready and we need to have a strong squad that is ready to enjoy these minutes because if you want to reach the next round you need to win.”

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Chelsea’s potential starting line-up is of great interest to Chesterfield fans and Tuchel revealed that Romelu Lukaku is an ‘option’ and suggested Timo Werner could be given some game time on his comeback after Covid.

A decision on whether Ross Barkley starts will be taken later.

Experienced defender Cesar Azpilucueta came off with cramp in the Carabao Cup semi-final win against Tottenham Hotspur so is available if selected.

Kai Havertz, who scored the winner in the Champions League final last season, has a finger injury but is fine to continue playing.

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Denmark centre-back, Andreas Christensen, has returned to training after a back problem.

N’Golo Kante and Thiago Silva are unavailable due to Covid.

"We have to find a good balance,” Tuchel said of his team selection.

"We want to use the match to get some minutes into the guys who desperately need it and want it like Timo for example.

"We still have another training session and one or two Covid tests to do so hopefully the situation stays at least like it is now and then we will find a strong line-up because we will show all the respect to the team and club of Chesterfield.

"It is the FA Cup and if you want to go to the next round you have to win this match.”

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