Chelsea skipper James to start against Blackburn

Reece James will make his return to the Chelsea starting line-up against Blackburn in Wednesday’s Carabao Cup tie at Stamford Bridge.

James has come on as a substitute in the Blues’ last two matches and boss Mauricio Pochettino has confirmed the England international will face the Championship outfit following a hamstring injury that sidelined him for 10 games.

“He is going to start, I am going to confirm only one player and yes it is the captain,” Pochettino said.

“He is ready. It is good for him and for the team to start from the beginning of the game.”

Pochettino insists the match is huge game for his team and that involvement in the cup competitions is one of his priorities this season.

“I said before we started the season, I think a competition like the Carabao Cup or FA Cup is really important for us,” he said.

“Tomorrow we are going to try and play with our best team. Some players that maybe we need to rest because we need to do some rest because after Saturday’s game, we cannot take some risk.

“In general we are going to try to put our our best team.”

Pochettino also confirmed Ben Chilwell is continuing his rehabilitation in Los Angeles but denied the left-back has had a setback in his recovery from a hamstring injury.

“It was the plan for the club to change the scenario for him because it is a period he needs to be out,” he said.

“This happens at different clubs, like (when I was) at Tottenham and Southampton.

“When there is a long period of recovery sometimes you want to change the scenery for the player, to provide because to spend 12 hours here every day…it is a fantastic training ground but some times the player needs to change the atmosphere to recover in a good way.”