Rotation an option at last as Mourinho’s luck turns

JOSE MOURINHO will rotate his squad out of choice for the first time this season when they look to reach the semi-finals of the FA Cup with victory over Tottenham at White Hart Lane tonight.

Chelsea looked dead and buried in the opening tie at Stamford Bridge when they trailed 3-1 at half-time to a vibrant Spurs side.

But a sensational second-half fightback, topped by an 85th-minute equaliser from substitute Salomon Kalou, earned them a second bite at Tottenham.

Chelsea’s season has been dogged by injuries to leave Mourinho with very little choice when it came to team selection. But even though England left-back Wayne Bridge will be out of action for a month and Michael Essien is struggling with a knee injury, Mourinho is celebrating the fact he can begin to rest players for the first time this season. Mourinho declared: “In almost every game this season we have got to win.

“We didn’t have to win against Tottenham in the FA Cup, but it felt like a win coming back from 3-1 down to 3-3.

“Now, however, we have to win at White Hart Lane in the replay. Of course at this stage of the season if you want to win a trophy you have to win games and keep winning.

“But we are involved in the battle for all the trophies so there are more games we have to play and win than almost anyone else. That is why we will have to use rotation where we can. But it’s not always easy. It has been that sort of season but we have been able to cope and win and move on.”

Mourinho’s ability to rotate his squad will be strengthened further tonight by the return of Mikel Jon Obi from his four-match suspension.

Mourinho added: “Mikel was doing well in the games against Porto and Arsenal and the suspension was a shame because he was ready for the jump to more regular games.”

Chelsea rested Didier Drogba and Michael Ballack against Sheffield United in the Premiership on Saturday and although tonight’s replay with Spurs represents their sixth game of the month, Mourinho insists he would not want it any other way.

“I am not complaining,” he said. “That is how we want it to be at this stage of the season. I want us to be in all the competitions and I want our players to be involved in top international games.

“But more than anything I want us to win and to do that we are going to have to put in a lot of good preparation work off the pitch, and hard work on it.”

Tottenham are expected to bring Dimitar Berbatov, Robbie Keane and Aaron Lennon back into the starting line-up. The trio were on the bench for the victory over Watford on Saturday, with winger Lennon coming off the bench for the last 19 minutes.

Teemu Tainio (calf), Ledley King (feet), Benoit Assou Ekotto (knee), Anthony Gardner (fractured fibula) and Danny Murphy (Achilles) remain on the sidelines. Didier Zokora missed the Watford match with a toe injury.