Jose Mourinho is hoping to have John Terry available for Saturday's FA Cup clash at Manchester City as Chelsea look to eradicate the defensive mistakes of midweek.
Terry has missed the last two matches for the Blues, due to what was first described as a ‘precautionary’ omission with a muscular problem.
On Tuesday night, at West Brom, Mourinho admitted his side missed their captain as late defensive errors saw them surrender a 1-0 lead to draw at The Hawthorns.
With the FA Cup tie coming as the second part of a double-header at Eastlands, Blues having won there in the league, Mourinho compared Manuel Pellegrini’s side with the West Brom team that frustrated them.
He said: “Against City (two weeks ago) we had lots of chances to kill the game – and we never killed it.
“We went to the last five or 10 minutes of the game, and City had a couple of shots and they had a couple of corners – and they could equalise.
“The difference between that game and (Tuesday against West Brom), was that in that game we never made one defensive mistake. Even when they put pressure on us.
“(At The Hawthorns) it was not for five minutes, it was for 20 minutes, and in 20 minutes we made a couple of defensive mistakes.
“They could score one goal before, and they equalised. So we have to kill games, and when we don’t kill, we can’t make defensive mistakes.”
Chelsea conceded on Tuesday night, with defender Gary Cahill receiving treatment for a knee injury, making him a doubt for the trip to Manchester.
Mourinho said the team missed the personality of a leader such as Terry at that time.
He added: “I think maybe also (Chelsea had) a little bit of a lack of personality – because we must have the personality to get out and not accept their pressure.
“If John (Terry) is not here, it is not because we don’t want him, it is because he can’t be.
“So if it was my option (to not play him), I could blame myself. But, of course, he is a guy with a big personality.”
