Chelsea v Colchester

Stamford Bridge
Sunday 19 February
Fifth Round
Kick-off: 1600 GMT
Referee: Rob Styles (Hampshire)
Replay: to be confirmed



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Chelsea are missing suspended defenders William Gallas and John
Terry, but Paolo Ferreira (thigh) can play and Didier Drogba is once
more available.

Asier del Horno and Damien Duff are back in training and Lassana
Diarra is set for a rare midfield appearance.

Colchester defender Garry Richards is back from a ban and he will
battle it out with Pat Baldwin and Wayne Brown for a place at centre-
back.

Liam Chilvers (hernia) and Kem Izzet (knee) are short of match
fitness.



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Colchester boss Phil Parkinson:
"We've taken seven points from four games since we drew Chelsea. The
lads have stayed focused.
"We are second in the league and that is our top priority. We have a
lot of confidence running through the club with recent performances.

"We have good players but they are also strong characters."



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KEY MATCH STATS


CHELSEA against Colchester is the real David versus Goliath battle
of the fifth round, encapsulating the excitement, romance, drama and
potential for giant killing that makes the FA Cup such a unique
competition. The Londoners are coming off their heaviest defeat
under Jose Mourinho. The Premiership champions are still smarting
from last weekend's shock loss at Middlesbrough, when they conceded
three unanswered goals - a margin of defeat unheard of in the
Abramovich era.

The Londoners have reached the FA Cup final four times in the last
12 seasons (1994, 1997, 2000 and 2002). They've won the competition
three times and been runners-up on four occasions, but the FA Cup is
the only piece of domestic silverware the Blues have not won under
Mourinho. They've exited at the fifth round stage in each of the
last two seasons, but have not lost to lower League opponents since
second level Millwall defeated them on penalties in a fourth round
replay on 8 February 1995. Bristol City were the last third level
club to humiliate the Londoners, winning 3-1 at Ashton Gate in the
fourth round on 27 January 1990. This season's run saw the Blues go
one behind to League One Huddersfield in the third round, before
eventually winning 2-1. They then saw off Everton in a replay, after
trailing in the original tie at Goodison Park.

Roberto Di Matteo scored the solitary goal when Chelsea last won the
Cup, defeating Aston Villa six years ago in the last final to be
staged at Wembley. Since then, the Londoners have been runners-up
once (to Arsenal in 2002) and losing Quarter-Finalists once (to
Arsenal in 2003). The Gunners also ended their run in 2004, and
Newcastle knocked them out last season.

COLCHESTER UNITED are a Roman garrison town, aiming to pull off one
of the biggest shocks of all time in FA Cup history by ousting the
glamorous west London club, bankrolled by Roman's roubles. The U's
wrote their names in the annals of Cup folklore on 13 February 1971.
Don Revie's Leeds were then the Chelsea of the day. They visited the
tiny Layer Road ground for a fifth round clash, and in front of
16,000 found themselves two-nil down by half time to a brace from
Ray Crawford. Dave Simmons capitalised on some generous Leeds
defending after the break, and although Leeds got two back through
Norman Hunter and Johnny Giles, it was the Essex club from the
Fourth Division that were in seventh heaven. Manager Dick Graham
kept his promise, which he may have regretted, of awarding all the
players and their wives a fortnight's holiday. He even scaled the
walls of Colchester castle.

Phil Parkinson has guided this Colchester side on a longer FA Cup
run than he ever achieved as a player. The former Bury and Reading
midfielder never got past the fourth round. U's have won 20 of their
last 24 matches in all competitions, and are well placed for
automatic promotion to the second level of English League football
for the first time in their history. Second in League One, they're
45 rungs lower than Chelsea on the League ladder but face a side
looking for honours on three fronts. Colchester have never played
Chelsea in any competition before. The Layer Road club are hoping to
bank £1,000,000 from this adventure.

United set out on this adventure by securing the club's biggest ever
victory in the FA Cup. They thrashed Leamington from the Midland
Alliance 9-1, then saw off League Two Shrewsbury, and Championship
high fliers Sheffield United (away). Another Championship side,
Derby, were their most recent victims. Now they have the opportunity
to reach the quarter-finals for the first time since 1971. Their
reward for defeating Leeds that season was a trip to Everton, where
they lost 5-0.


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