Source: Daily_Mail
CHELSEA v Birmingham: Joe Cole set to start against Alex McLeish's in-form City
Joe Cole will return to the Chelsea side for the Barclays Premier League clash against Birmingham at Stamford Bridge. [LNB]The England midfielder was left out of the starting line-up against Preston in the FA Cup at the weekend along with goalkeeper Petr Cech, who also returns. [LNB]Ricardo Carvalho replaces Alex in defence while Ashley Cole is back after missing the Preston game with an ankle knock. [LNB] No ordinary Joe: Cole (right) played just under half an hour against Preston[LNB]Juliano Belletti is out for a month with a knee injury while Michael Essien is sidelined for six weeks with a similar complaint. [LNB]Strikers Didier Drogba and Salomon Kalou return on Wednesday from Africa Cup of Nations duty with the Ivory Coast but are not included in the squad. [LNB]John Mikel Obi remains in Angola with Nigeria. [LNB]Squad: Cech, Hilario, Turnbull, Ivanovic, Carvalho, Terry, A Cole, Ballack, Deco, Lampard, J Cole, Malouda, Anelka, Sturridge, Borini, Ferreira, Bruma, Alex, Zhirkov, Kakuta. [LNB]CLICK HERE FOR ALL THE REST OF THE MIDWEEK PREMIER LEAGUE TEAM NEWS
