Benitez explains why he was not temped to bring Terry on

Rafael Benitez said he was not tempted to bring on John Terry during the second half against Southampton.

Shoddy defending by Chelsea helped the Saints claw their way back from two down to snatch a 2-2 draw at Stamford Bridge.

After a couple of months out with a knee injury, Terry made his long awaited return to first-team action on Saturday when he came on as a late substitute during the 4-0 win at Stoke.

But he remained on the bench against the Saints despite Chelsea being put under pressure prior to Jason Puncheon’s equaliser.

Asked if he had considered moving David Luiz into midfield and introducing Terry to shore things up, Benitez explained: “No, because he has no match fitness.

“There was not a big threat. You could see they [Southampton] were not creating much. It was a question of managing the game.

“The other day we were winning and gave him the opportunity to play some minutes and that was fine.

“But to play a high line with a player with no match fitness would be a risk.”

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