ANTONIO CONTE is set to recall all his big guns for Monday’s FA Cup showdown with Manchester United.
Chelsea’s boss has rotated his squad in the three previous rounds but is now planning to send out his strongest possible team in the quarter final clash at Stamford Bridge.
That means Eden Hazard and Diego Costa, who started the last match against Wolves will be joined by N’Golo Kante, Marcos Alonso, Thibaut Courtois and Gary Cahill.
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The last eight is when the competition starts to get serious and there is the added spice of the return of former Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho.
Mourinho will be itching for revenge following a 4-0 thrashing at Chelsea in the Premier League in October.
Chelsea are one win away from a Wembley semi final and a growing chance of Conte landing a remarkable Cup and Premier League double in his first season in charge.
Monday’s 2-1 win over West Ham puts them ten points clear at the top with 11 games to go and no added pressure from European football this season to drain his squad.
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Chelsea left back Marcos Alonso said: “It has been good for me to rest from time to time in the FA Cup.
“I'm happy because the team kept winning and that's the most important thing. Now we have a big game against United and let's see. I do not know if I will play.
“Let's see what the manager decides. I have to recover from the game against West Ham to be ready if the coach decides to use me.”
Conte may still opt to leave out David Luiz, however, as the Brazilian centre half is still nursing problems from taking a hefty kick from Manchester City’s Sergio Aguero in December and will need to be carefully managed until the end of the season in May.
That means John Terry may keep his place alongside Cahill at the heart of the defence but senior Chelsea players are eager to face their old boss Mourinho, who has made regular reference to the fact that Cone has been given an unexpected bonus with no European football this season.
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