David Wright looks set to return to the Town side which joins 6,000 fans in travelling to Chelsea for Saturday's FA Cup fourth round tie. While Wright is expected to come in at right-back, the Blues are waiting on left-back Ben Thatcher, who has spent much of the last week ill.

Wright will take over from Alex Bruce who was used at right full-back at Palace, with Moritz Volz out with a groin problem, which gives manager Jim Magilton a decision to make at the centre of the defence.

Skipper Gareth McAuley will keep his place, but the Blues boss will have to decide between young Dutchman Pim Balkestein, who impressed at Crystal Palace a week ago, or Bruce. Iván Campo is out for around another three weeks with a calf injury, while Tommy Smith is continuing his recovery from his broken ankle and hopes to start running again soon.

Richard Wright will be in goal, while Dan Harding, who was not cup-tied during his loan spell with Southend, will probably keep his place on the left of the defence, with the Blues unlikely to risk Thatcher with a trip to Barnsley coming up on Tuesday.

Another option for Magilton is to switch Balkestein to left-back, although it's likely that the Town manager would prefer to utilise a more experienced left-back against the Champions League finalists.

Magilton will also have to decide whether to go with the 4-4-2 formation which proved so successful at Palace a week ago or switch to the 4-5-1 used on a number of occasions earlier in the season.

Last week's impressive counter-attacking display could persuade the Town boss to go with much the same four-man midfield at Stamford Bridge, with Danny Haynes on the right, David Norris on the left and Owen Garvan and Tommy Miller in the centre, although the more defensive Veliche Shumulikoski could get the nod ahead of Miller. Norris missed training earlier in the week due to a twisted ankle but will be fine.

Up front, Pablo Couñago and Jon Walters, who is over a tight hamstring, are Town's most likely front pairing, with Walters able to drop back into midfield if the Blues switch to 4-5-1.

With clubs able to name seven subs in the FA Cup, Youth Cup hat-trick hero Connor Wickham is likely to be on the bench along with Dean Bowditch, Jordan Rhodes having joined Brentford on loan.

If he makes it onto the field, Wickham, at 15 years, nine months and 21 days, will become Town's youngest ever first team player. The current holder of that record is Jason Dozzell, who made his debut (and scored) against Coventry City on 4th February 1984 when aged 16 years and 57 days.

Assistant manager John Gorman says that while Saturday will be a great day out and a chance to create a shock, Tuesday's trip to Barnsley is ultimately more important: "We're really looking forward to tomorrow.

"We'll go there and give it our best shot and hopefully we'll be able to get a win or draw, but if we're honest our next game is much more important.

"Beating Barnsley is what really matters, but tomorrow will be a great experience for the lads and there's no pressure on us.

"We can go there and enjoy the occasion, whereas in many ways our tie against Chesterfield in the previous round was harder because we were the home team and everyone expected us to win.”

Chelsea are without John Obi Mikel, who is serving a one-match ban, while Didier Drogba is expected to return after being left out in recent weeks.

Boss Phil Scolari will reportedly rest keeper Petr Cech with Carlo Cudicini replacing him, while skipper John Terry is a doubt with a back problem and according to some of this morning's newspapers will definitely miss out. Joe Cole and Michael Essien are both sidelined with long-term knee injuries.

Young Slovakian striker Miroslav Stoch may be given a run-out by Chelsea, having scored four times against the Blues in an U18 match last season, his side winning a 10-goal thriller 6-4.

Chelsea have had much the better of Town over the years, winning 21 games, losing 9 and drawing 11. Two FA Cup ties at Stamford Bridge are included in the West Londoners 21 victories, a 2-0 win in 1972/73 and a 3-0 defeat of the Blues in the 1967/68 season.

Town's most recent trip to Stamford Bridge was in November 2001 when Sam Dalla Bona scored the winner in the 90th minute, Marcus Stewart having netted a penalty a minute earlier, equalising Gianfranco Zola's 36th minute opener. Current Blue Pablo Couñago was a 65th minute sub in that game, while Jim Magilton played the full 90 minutes for Town, while John Terry and Frank Lampard were in the Chelsea side.

Later that season the teams played out a 0-0 draw at Portman Road when Tommy Miller was the only current Blue in the Town side, while Terry and Carlo Cudicini were starters for Chelsea and Frank Lampard came on as a sub.

Town last won at Stamford Bridge in May 1979 when two goals from Aklan Brazil and one from Clive Woods gave the Blues a 3-2 victory.

No current Blues have played for Chelsea and no member of Phil Scolari's squad has even been with Town.

The Blues have lost their last nine FA Cup ties with Premier League teams – Aston Villa, Everton, Southampton, Sunderland (twice), Portsmouth (twice), Watford and Bolton. Their last victory over top flight opposition came in 1996, when Paul Mason's last minute goal put out then-champions Blackburn in extra-time of a third round replay at Ewood Park.

Chelsea have advised fans travelling to the game that the District Line will be closed between Earl's Court and Whitechapel.

They suggest travelling supporters instead use the Central Line from Liverpool Street to Notting Hill Gate and then to travel south to Fulham Broadway on the District Line.

Chelsea are running a beer promotion prior to the game to try to get fans into Stamford Bridge as early as possible. From 1pm until 2pm draught Heineken will be £2.50 rather than the usual £3.50.

Saturday's referee is Alan Wiley from Staffordshire, who has shown 59 yellow and two red cards in 22 games so far this season. Wiley's most recent Town game was the 1-0 home victory over Leeds in November 2004.

Likely squad: R Wright, Supple, D Wright, Harding, McAuley, Bruce, Balkestein, Garvan, Shumulikoski, Miller, Norris, Haynes, Quinn, Walters, Couñago, Lisbie, Stead, Bowditch, Wickham.

Photo: Action Images

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