Joe Cole on the verge of Champions League return for Chelsea

29 September 2009 10:23
The England forward, who, aside from a Carling Cup appearance against Queens Park Rangers, has not played for the Stamford Bridge club since January, flew out with the rest of the Chelsea first-team squad to Cyprus on Tuesday. Ancelotti will decide on Tuesday evening whether this is the right time to allow 27 year-old Cole back on to the big stage following his return from an eight-month injury lay-off and cruciate ligament surgery in the Carling Cup last week. The chances are that Cole will feature at the GSP Stadium against the Cypriot champions and given his strong record of scoring against Liverpool, he may do so again on Sunday in the Premier League. Ancelotti is at pains to nurse him back to full fitness carefully – he knows how much he will need Cole during the African Cup of Nations Cup in January which will strip him of much of Chelsea's attacking threat – but needs must. Cole himself is taking a cautious approach on his return to fitness and last week insisted that playing regularly for Chelsea was his primary target despite the need to fight his way back into the England fold ahead of the 2010 World Cup. Didier Drogba and José Bosingwa remain suspended from European competition following the events after last season's semi-final exit to Barcelona. And although Ashley Cole shook off a knee injury suffered on Saturday, there were further concerns when Michael Ballack and John Obi Mikel failed to recover to make the trip. The Fifa transfer ban, which is being contested by Chelsea, does not help Ancelotti's team either, although Blackburn Rovers manager Sam Allardyce has confirmed that he expects Franco Di Santo to return to Stamford Bridge when his loan spell expires in January.

Source: Telegraph