Chelsea have paved the way for Ricardo Carvalho and Michael Essien to return to the first team after lengthy injury lay-offs as Guus Hiddink, having hoisted the team from fourth to second place since assuming the reins, looks to continue the pursuit of his "main objective" of automatic qualification for the Champions League at Portsmouth this evening.
Carvalho, who has been troubled by hamstring problems, and Essien began the reserve team game at Aston Villa last night, the Ghanaian making his first appearance since undergoing surgery on a cruciate knee ligament injury sustained while on international duty in September.
Essien played the full match at Villa Park and scored in the 86th minute of Chelsea's 4–3 defeat. Carvalho came through an hour untroubled before being taken off, watched by Hiddink and the new manager's assistant, Ray Wilkins.
Essien's return to competitive action – most likely later this month – will be a welcome boost to Hiddink, who has overseen three successive wins and still harbours faint hopes of hauling back Manchester United in the title race. "The main objective, when we started talking about me taking up the role for the rest of the season, was to qualify automatically for the Champions League," said Hiddink. "What we could do 'extra' was 'extra'. I'm not naive. United have a very good squad and, realistically, it will be difficult to catch them. But, as long as there is a possibility, you never know.
"We certainly have the ambition to be in contention right to the end of May, hopefully to create some classic clashes between two powerhouses. But let's take the first few steps now.
"We're going now into a decisive month. The other months are important as well, to make sure you're not too far away from your aims and targets, but I may have the luxury of having players to pick from.
"I have watched Essien in training and he's close, very close. We'll have more options with him available in terms of the team's shape and tactics. It will give us some variations for the remaining games. I hope we can stop Manchester United winning five trophies this season. I'd love to stop Sir Alex Ferguson in his aim."
That was delivered with a smile. Hiddink may be without Nicolas Anelka at Fratton Park this evening, the France striker having damaged a toe against Wigan on Saturday, but would reduce the gap to United to four points with victory, albeit possibly for only 24 hours.
Chelsea's stop-gap manager is aware his objectives are short-term at present, though he reiterated yesterday that he would be willing to offer advice both on his successor and, potentially, on new signings should the club's hierarchy seek it over the remainder of the season.
