John Terry travels with Chelsea squad for Sparta Prague tie

The Blues play in the Europa League this Thursday

Captain John Terry travelled with Chelsea to Prague for tomorrow's Europa League clash despite missing last Saturday's defeat of Wigan with a knee injury.

The 32-year-old defender was part of a 19-man Blues squad which travelled to the Czech capital for the last-32 first-leg contest at the Generali Arena.

David Luiz, Demba Ba, Victor Moses and John Obi Mikel missed the trip. Luiz is suspended, Ba ineligible after representing Newcastle earlier in the competition and Moses and Mikel miss out after winning the African Nations Cup with Nigeria last Sunday.

Gary Cahill, who was withdrawn from the Wigan win after suffering cramp, is available for selection by interim boss Rafael Benitez.

Goalkeeper Petr Cech, who suffered a hairline fracture to his little finger on his left hand at Newcastle, is in line to face his former club.

Sparta have not played a competitive match since early December due to the Czech winter break, but Cech, who played for them in the 2001/02 season before moving to Rennes, anticipates a challenging contest for last season's Champions League winners.

"The game against us will be their first competitive match since December," Cech told chelseafc.com.

"They recently signed David Lafata, who has been the top scorer in the Czech Republic for the past two seasons, as well as Roman Bednar, who used to play for West Bromwich Albion.

"They will have options, and they are a team with a good blend of young, hungry players and experienced ones.

"For them, it will be the biggest game of their careers, so that's a danger because they will want to show they can do well against us."

The match will be Chelsea's first away in Europe since the November loss to Juventus which sealed their Champions League exit and the fate of Roberto Di Matteo, who was succeeded by Benitez.

PA