Terry in squad to face Stoke

Chelsea's John Terry celebrates his goal. Photo: Sean Dempsey/PA

Friday, January 11, 2013
3:17 PM

Captain John Terry is in Chelsea’s squad for tomorrow’s Premier game against Stoke but will not start the game, interim manager Rafael Benitez has confirmed.

Terry came through 45 minutes of the Blues’ Under-21 game against Fulham on Thursday, his first appearance since suffering knee ligament damage against Liverpool in November.

Benitez confirmed that the 32-year-old has returned to training and will be in the squad for tomorrow’s trip to the Britannia Stadium, but will start on the bench

“He played yesterday. He was OK,” Benitez said. “He has been training today. He is in the squad.”

“He can’t start yet. It’s good news for us after all these weeks. Terry and [Frank]Lampard are available. It’s all good news.

“It’s always important to have your captain. It’s another option for you to manage.

“We thought it’d be less time. I explained that the knee is always a problem but hopefully it’ll be fine until the end of the season.

“I was speaking to him this morning. He’s fine. This one, he knows he cannot play. He has to train and be fitter.

“The others are fine. Oriol Romeu is out.”

Goalkeeper Petr Cech will have a test on his groin injury, while Nigeria duo John Obi Mikel and Victor Moses are unavailable as they are at the Africa Nations Cup.