Pat Nevin believes that Mason Mount and Antonio Rudiger should feature against Porto tomorrow evening, writing in his Chelsea column.
A Champions League quarter final is the billing on Wednesday between the Premier League giant and their Portuguese opponents.
Thomas Tuchel will be searching for an instant response following his sides shocking 5-2 defeat to West Bromwich Albion on Saturday.
Chelsea were without Mount and Rudiger from the start of that loss at Stamford Bridge last weekend, but Nevin felt Tuchel couldn’t risk resting them for the Porto clash.
The former Chelsea winger said: “More than anything else we need increased energy levels from the start of the game against Porto.
“If he is fit, I cannot imagine Mason Mount starting on the bench this time and that should certainly help.
“There is also the age-old line about sometimes looking a better player when you are sitting on the bench during a bad defeat.
“Again if fit, it is hard to imagine Toni Rudiger not coming into the back line somewhere for tomorrow as his intense defending style was sorely missed.”
Both Mount and Rudiger featured heavily for their respective national teams during the international interlude.
Hence why Tuchel decided not to throw them back straight into the frying pan versus West Brom.
They will certainly be vital ingredients if Chelsea are to overcome Porto, who are on a decent domestic run.
Rudiger’s restoration into the Blues XI has coincided with 12 clean sheets in 14 games under Tuchel.
Mount’s performances have rarely dipped throughout the season and is still as important to the German coach as he was to Frank Lampard.
The pairing probably won’t be the only changes made from that West Brom humbling, with the likes of Kai Havertz, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Andreas Christensen, Ben Chilwell, and Olivier Giroud all looking to reinstate themselves.
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