I know the transfer rumor mill is dominating the news today, but if you actually want to take a break from staring at Twitter the Chelsea reserves will be taking on the Blackburn reserves in about an hour and a half. The big story of the day for the reserves will definitely be Sam Hutchinson taking the armband after his return from injury. Hutchinson abruptly retired about a year ago due to recurring knee injuries, although he still got treatment on them after retiring. Ten months later (and after a brief commentating career with Chelsea TV) Hutch made some noise about trying to return to the field which culminated in him making a surprise start for the reserve team earlier in the week against Bolton.
Hutch will be making his second start for the reserves in a week today, which is definitely positive news about the condition of his knee. Last summer he was sitting securely in front of both Slobodan Rajkovic and Jeffrey Bruma on the Chelsea depth chart prior to the shock retirement, so if he's really 100% it will be a huge boost to our depth at both RB and CB. This is a real feelgood story, as Hutchinson joined the Chelsea academy at the age of 9 and was on the verge of breaking into the first team when he retired. He's already made three appearances in the Chelsea first team, and another solid showing today could definitely see his name added to the 25 man roster when they are submitted on Thursday afternoon. Best of luck Sam, I'm sure every Chelsea fan out there will be pulling for you.