EskWeston

I would guess a rest and training will be given to them although with the squad looking bigger and players being out through injury we may end up putting a strong team out.

Maybe was over here anyway. But i would guess he would have taken the time to come and see Di Santo. Maradonna has always taken a huge interest in the young talented Argentinian players and has been very close to Tevez and Messi for years.

Yup having Ballack and Sheva back will be a massive massive boost. Although i can't at the moment see us leaving the 4-3-3 formation that is working so well. Although i think Anelka or Sheva could play on the wing as a more advanced winger.

Any chance to give the players who play most games a rest and give the fringe players a run out is good. Especially at this stage of the season. Not sure if the African boys are back by then or not though.

Excellant, must have been great for young Di Santo.

Yup and hopefully Di Santo and Ivanovic as well.....

Depends when the management think he is ready, could be for the Reading game.

Top draw as far as we are concerned. A home tie against lower league opposition will give us a chance to rest a few players thats for sure and to see one of United and the Arse go out before the quarters is also a massive bonus.

Looks like he is going to be in a similar situation to Sinclair, a full first team squad member but who will play in the reserve games to keep match fitness up, can't wait to see him make his first appearance in the reserves.

It will be good to have a home game again after 3 aways on the trot and Reading are not having the best of seasons so i would expect us to come through this one. Hopefully that little scrote hunt will play and get the treatment he deserves from the Chelsea fans.

I thought we played pretty well on an absolutely awful pitch!! The goals were both pure class and Anelka deserved to score at last but what an unselfish set up for SWP as well. Through to the next round and that makes it 8 wins in a row

New signing Franco Di Santo has been speaking exclusively to Chelsea TV about his move from Chilean side Audax Italiano La Florida SADP. Little is known among Blues fans about the 18-year-old, who signed today having trained at Cobham over the past few days. The striker chose to introduce himself as 'a centre forward that moves around a lot. Sometimes I'll be out wide, but through the middle is best for me to score as many goals as possible. 'I like to think I can be a similar sort of player to Hernáand Crespo,' he added. An Argentine Under-20 forward, Di Santo has been playing his football in Chile. 'I've been playing for a team there called Audax Italiano. My last season went well for me thankfully, and hopefully now that'll be the same here at Chelsea. 'I want to do as well as I can and respond by scoring goals, to start with in the reserves and hopefully soon I'll be playing with all the big names here at Chelsea.' Indeed Chelsea's exploits have not gone unnoticed with the youngster. 'Yes, I've seen a bit and heard a bit, and if I can reach their level one day, that would be great,' he said. Source: Chelsea FC

He has all the qualities to be excellant at right back when he is fit. I think right back will be his main position and being able to cover centre back is a massive bonus. Will be good to see him in action at last.

Thats because it is only a sample knocked together by Adidas to show what it looks like. Samples always look a bit dodgier....

Some reserves do train with the first team regulary, especially when the first team is low on numbers. Although i would imagine that Di Santo is viewed as a full first team member, even if he does play a few reserve games.

It's like being given the finest stakes every night for dinner and then sneaking off down to McDonalds and having a big mac!!!

Well i hope for his sake that it isn't tue. What sort of a muppet would go behind the back of someone like his missus to have a quickie with that rough bint...... He wants his f**king head read if true.

First picture from training:

Was one of my favorite players. But the club handled it supberbly. They knew how bad his injury problems were, saw he wanted to leave, saw Madrid were desperate for him and handled the business perfectly - and have been proved to have made the right move since.

Yup that about sums him up, and the fact he is very highly regarded. That is why it will be interesting to see how he is used. I would guess it will be a case of seeing how he does in training to see if spells with the reserves are needed. But if he makes the impact in training he will get his chance.

There is no doubt that it is the collective work of Grant, Ten Cate and Clarke that has been responsible for the excellant results. However Grant does have to take some credit for that as does Clarke and Ten Cate. At the end of the day the general feeling towards Grant is cooling, which considering where we are is no big suprise. People may not accept him outright and support him in the way Jose did. However should we be successful and winning trophys i would imagine that most the negativity will quickly be forgotten. (Cue countless people telling me they will never accept Grant )

About f**king time too Will be very interesting to see how he is used this season, and also what he is all about. It may be the case that we don't see him at all this season, but i would think he will get some time.

I knew i should have steered clear of this thread

I wish the Mourinho comparison would just stop. They are so pointless it is crazy. Jose did wonders for our club and he brough untold success to us and built a fantastic team, he will rightly always be remembered for that. However we are in a new era now that so far is working better than anyone would have expected. Why compare it to the Jose era, nothing good can come of doing that.

Oh f**k, we havn't got Rennie have we??? It will be basically the same team as Wednesday i would have thought, as we have no-one else available. So we should be able to progress quite comfortably, and would be nice to see Anelka FINALLY get that goal he has come so close to.