Duo out for Chelsea

Alex and Ramires have failed to recover from hamstring injuries and will miss Chelsea’s Barclays Premier League game against Birmingham tomorrow.

The Brazilian duo were expected to be fit after sitting out Saturday’s win at West Brom but will now be unavailable until after this weekend’s clash with West Ham.

Branislav Ivanovic is doubtful with a muscle strain, which was due to be assessed today.

Provisional squad: Cech, Bosingwa, Ferreira, Terry, Luiz, Ivanovic, Zhirkov, Cole, Mikel, Essien, Lampard, Benayoun, Kalou, Malouda, Anelka, Torres, Drogba, Turnbull.