Nigerian striker Victor Moses did not
make the trip to Bucharest for Thursday’s Europa League clash with
Steaua Bucharest as expected. The Super Eagles attacker and Brazilian
Ramires were left behind as the others boarded the flight to Bulgaria on
Wednesday.
It was learnt that Rafa Benitez chose to
rest the pair ahead of Sunday’s FA Cup quarter-final match against
Manchester United at Old Trafford. Striker Demba Ba also missed the trip
but in his own case he is cup-tied after playing for Newcastle in the
competition before crossing over to Chelsea.
Interim manager Benitez has placed high
premium on the FA Cup as that is one of the two trophies still available
to the English club. Chelsea set unenviable record this season as the
first defending champions to drop out at the group stage. Having lost
out of the Premier League chase, the FA Cup is the only domestic trophy
still within reach.
The African Nations Cup star rallied his
team mates last week to work harder after they defeated Middlesbrough
2-0 to book a date with United.
“(The FA Cup) will be important for us,
we’ve already lost a few competitions this season, so this one would be
massive for the club,” Moses told the club’s website.
Moses and Mikel Obi are the only members
of the squad that have won trophy this year following their South Africa
2013 success. Yossi Benayoun (ankle) and Oriol Romeu (knee) are
expected to miss out through injury, but John Terry (knee) may not be
risked following a fairly stuttering return from a spell on the
sidelines
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