Match Preview: Swindon v Chelsea (Capital One Cup 3rd Round)
The Capital One Cup wouldn’t be high on the list of most clubs priorities but Steve Holland says that Jose Mourinho wants to win everything ahead of Chelsea’s third round trip to Swindon.
Mourinho will included fringe and young players in his side but it’d still be a strong XI and you can be sure he’ll be serious about winning his third League Cup. It was the first thing he won during his first stint at Stamford Bridge in 2005 and that squad went on to win the Premier League. He won it in 2007 for a second time, before going on to win the FA Cup that season.
Holland told reporters:
“If you prioritise the four trophies we have a chance of winning, I’m not going to pretend that this competition is ahead of the Champions League, but Jose wants to win everything. That hasn’t changed. That will be the situation again this time round.
“We want to win every trophy. There’s no reason why not given the strength of squad that we have.”
He also said it was important to stay in the competition as Chelsea need games to satisfy a big squad of players:
“We have a big squad with fantastic players. The players want to play and need to play.
“The longer we stay in this tournament, the more games we provide for our squad between now and Christmas time.”
Cesar Azpilicueta, Ryan Bertrand, David Luiz, Michael Essien and Juan Mata are all set to start at the County Ground as Mourinho says he will use the players that did not feature during Chelsea’s 2-0 win over Fulham on Saturday. All of them will be eager to make an impact and will have to put in a performance as we almost came unstuck against League One’s Brentford during last year’s FA Cup campaign.
As for the home side, Swindon could be without Ryan Mason and Ryan Harley, who have been suffering with respective thigh and knee problems. Nathan Byrne completes a three-game suspension but Alex Pritchard is available for selection following a one-game ban.
The Robins won the only League Cup tie between the two sides 3-0 in the second round at the Country Ground, but that was all the way back in 1963.