Cahill is still haunted by Mason blow
CHELSEA face Hull tonight with the harrowing events of their last meeting still fresh in the memory. It is little more than 12 months since Ryan Mason fractured his skull in a clash of heads with Gary Cahill, an injury which the 26-year-old Tigers midfielder announced this week has ended his career.
Chelsea captain Cahill is set to play in the tie at Stamford Bridge tonight, despite club sources saying he is ‘devastated and down’.
Mason will not be at tonight’s game, which comes too soon after a stressful and emotional week. Last year his parents — Chelsea season-ticket holders — were rushing from their seats to be by his side.
Chelsea have given an open invitation to the family to return to Stamford Bridge at a later date.
‘We are very sad for this bad news,’ manager Conte said. ‘The players and the club wish him and his family the best for the present, the best for the future.’
But he will have no qualms about fielding Cahill. ‘This type of situation can happen. I was a player and I understand it,’ the Italian added.
‘My team-mate broke my leg when I was 16 and risked my whole career. But it was an unlucky situation. Gary is a fantastic guy, a fantastic person. He must be OK because it’s not his fault. I didn’t speak with him. I think that, if I have to go to speak with him, it means there is a problem. I don’t see a problem.’
Chelsea are expected to make big changes tonight with Tuesday’s Champions League clash with Barcelona in mind.
Tiemoue Bakayoko, David Luiz and Ross Barkley miss out with injuries but Alvaro Morata will get some playing time to prepare the returning No 9 to start at the Nou Camp in midweek.
Playing on a Friday represents a rare scheduling advantage for an English club over foreign rivals — the Spanish league leaders play away at Eibar tomorrow.
But for Conte, the calendar still isn’t helpful enough. ‘I think to play on Friday is good for us,’ he said.
‘But if we were lucky to play on Friday, we were very unlucky to have this schedule between the two Barcelona games: [Manchester] United, City.’