Cech doesn't fear Reading
Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech does not fear returning on Wednesday to Reading's Madejski Stadium for the first time since suffering a horrific head injury there, said Blues boss Jose Mourinho.
The Czech Republic keeper has recovered from the grisly collision with Royals defender Stephen Hunt in October that fractured his skull.
But he still wears protective headgear on match days - something sure to remind him of his shocking injury when Chelsea play at the Madejski in the second round of English Premier League matches.
Hunt has already said he will not be offering Cech any words of comfort when the pair meet again.
The two have not spoken since the accident but Mourinho believes Cech will take the game in his stride.
Asked if he thought the 25-year-old would be affected by his return to the stadium, Chelsea manager Mourinho replied: "I don't think so. It's just a game, a difficult one, but nothing else."
The Blues boss officially welcomed new signing Alex to the club on Tuesday but said the Brazil defender would require a further two weeks of intensive training before being considered.
Alex, 25, spent three years with PSV Eindhoven in the Netherlands but Chelsea always had the first option to buy him.
The player was granted a work permit a fortnight ago and only restarted training in the last few days.
"He dominates in the air and has the physique to adapt to the English way of playing. Maybe one of the reasons we lost the championship last season was because we did not have a lot of defenders," Mourinho said.
"We lost Robert Huth and William Gallas in pre-season and John Terry was out for three months. Khalid Boulahrouz and Ricardo Carvalho were also out injured and we did not really have any solutions.
"I was scared whenever any of my central defenders went into a challenge and it was not a good situation for us just to have Carvalho and Terry.
"Now there is no reason to be scared like we were last season because we have Terry, Carvalho, Tal Ben Haim and Alex."
Mourinho also believes competition for places among his defensive quartet will be something Alex will relish.
"He plays in the most famous national team in the history of football and if he can cope with the challenge of that, he can cope with it at Chelsea," Mourinho said.
"It is competitive in the Brazil squad and in Chelsea it is the same."
Alex said he was delighted to have finally made it to Stamford Bridge.
"I think the style of play is similar but the quality in this country is higher than in Holland," he said.
"I hope to adapt as quick as possible because I know here there are so many good players and the pressure is much higher than it used to be in Holland.
"The important thing is for me to be here, work hard and be prepared for the manager to select me for the team. I'm very happy to be here and hopefully I'll be part of the team and help them do very well in every competition."
Mourinho was boosted by the return of fullback Paulo Ferreira to his squad for the Reading game and expects to have everyone fit for Sunday's trip to Liverpool, aside from fullback Wayne Bridge and midfielder Michael Ballack, who are recovering from surgery.
But the squad, which defeated visitors Birmingham 3-2 at Stamford Bridge on Saturday, will be on duty against Reading, with Mourinho still to make a decision over whether to include injured Ghana midfielder Michael Essien.
Essien scored the winning goal against Steve Bruce's side but sustained a knee ligament injury and was forced out of the action.
Mourinho said striker Andriy Shevchenko and midfielder Claude Makelele were back in training and Terry would start training on Wednesday.
Comments