New role for Cole

Jose Mourinho will pair together Damien Duff and Joe Cole in a new-look strike partnership when Chelsea take on Suwon Bluewings in Korea tomorrow.

Chelsea, who recently announced a lucrative sponsorship deal with Korean electronics manufacturer Samsung, arrived in the country today for the friendly match after an 11-hour flight.

Mourinho will not field a recognised striker in the starting 11, with Duff and Cole leading the line instead.

Claude Makelele will captain the side for the game, which kicks off at 11am Irish time.

On their arrival, Mourinho said: “My team is tired because we played consecutively 11 months of football, and we haven’t time to adapt, but we want to give a good match and we understand you are really in love with football.”

Team: Cech, Geremi, Huth, Johnson, Morais; Smertin, Makelele, Tiago, Jarosik, Duff, Cole.