Addressing the media ahead of tomorrow’s Barclays Premier League game against Everton, Jose Mourinho provided some positive news for Chelsea supporters, with the Portuguese stating John Terry will start against Roberto Martinez’s side.
The captain hasn’t been involved since our 1-0 win at Manchester City due to a minor muscle problem but, having trained this week, is ready to return.
It’s a development which has been made all the more significant by the news David Luiz will not feature tomorrow after picking up a muscle injury in training.
‘John is fit and he will play,’ said Mourinho. ‘I’m not thinking about Galatasaray, the team will be the team I think is strong for the game.
‘David Luiz is injured, he’s feeling some pain in his muscle, he’s not ready for this game but hopefully he will be ready for the next one. The next game is in the Champions League where we will have two players less than normal because Matic and Salah cannot play. We need him, if possible, to be ready for Galatasaray.’
With Terry having missed our last three matches, Mourinho is understandably delighted to be able to call on his services once more.
‘It’s important, especially because now we don’t have David. If we don’t have David and John the situation is even more difficult, so the fact John didn’t play but David did, and now David can’t but John is ready, gives us that balance,’ explained the Blues boss.
‘He’s a stable player, not a player that makes lots of mistakes. He has a basic level of performance that gives stability to the team. Every team, especially one with a lot of young players, needs stability from the back and that stability from the back is something which is keeping us in a good position in the league.
‘For me, the captain’s armband doesn’t mean so much. What really matters is the voice on the pitch. Many times I can’t control that, especially when they are defending the goal far away from my position. Sometimes there are things to control, like the distances, position of the defensive line and the line where we start pressing the opponent. To have a player on the pitch with this kind of voice, to transmit what I need, is important.’