Brady hoping for United start against Chelsea
The players involved may be different — both clubs having fielded a number of fringe players the previous round — but it remains to be seen whether that prevents any needle from United’s 3-2 win spilling over.
In terms of the match action to come, United boss Alex Ferguson confirmed he intends to rotate his squad, with republic of Ireland winger Robbie Brady among those hoping to play a part. The 2-1 win over Newcastle in round three saw the likes of youngster Michael Keane, Marnick Vermijl and Scott Wootton given starts along with new signing Alexander Buttner, while Nick Powell, Ryan Tunnicliffe and Brady came off the bench. Ferguson said: “Obviously we will make changes for the game. The squad that played against Newcastle will be in place again. You don’t want to lose down there and we want to continue in the cup. Any game down there is going to be tough. There has been good progress there since Roberto di Matteo took the job. They are big games — and big games are good for us.”
The game will come too soon for injured defenders Chris Smalling and Phil Jones. Neither has featured this season with Smalling having broken a metatarsal in the summer and Jones having been hampered by back and knee problems.
Smalling, 22, is back in training and with Nemanja Vidic sidelined after knee surgery, his return for United could not come soon enough.
Ferguson said: “We will try to push Chris on quickly. I don’t think he will make Wednesday but I am sure he will be ready for the following week.
“There was some hope both he and Phil would be back for this busy schedule.
“Phil will be starting football training next Monday. He still has some running to do. The good news is they are not far away.”
For his part, Roberto Di Matteo has to decide whether to leave John Obi Mikel or Juan Mata out of tonight’s clash.
Blues boss Di Matteo was always likely to consider resting the midfield duo, given the number of changes the club traditionally make for League Cup ties.
But he also had to take into account their emotional state after it emerged they were the players Chelsea accused referee Mark Clattenburg of using “inappropriate language” towards during Sunday’s explosive clash against United.
Fernando Torres and Branislav Ivanovic are both suspended following their red cards on Sunday, with John Terry is also banned.
Ashley Cole was likely to be among those rested and is suffering with an ankle problem anyway, while Frank Lampard remains out.
“It is certainly a tricky situation,” Di Matteo said.
“It is also our fourth game in 10 days and they have all been big games, so we are looking to freshen the team up a little bit for sure, and also put a couple of youngsters in.
“We always talk about developing and giving youngsters a chance so this type of game is a good opportunity for some of them.”
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