John Terry is rumoured to be making a return to the Chelsea side to face Saints on Saturday evening, could this be good for Sadio Mane.

John Terry is perhaps one of the most despised and hated figures in the Premier League, to fans of club's other than Chelsea he is seen as an odious creature who appears to have little morals or ethics and never misses a chance to further his own life and finances even at the expense of others.

It cannot be denied that he was a good player though and he played a vital part in Chelsea's title winning season in 2014/15 where defensively they just pipped Saints to the accolade of being the tightest defence in the division.

This season however he was dropped for the first time in his career and has not started any of Chelsea's last 5 games with Gary Cahill & Kurt Zouma preferred in the centre role, however the midweek defeat in Porto looks like it has prompted Mourinho into a rethink and Terry could return against Saints.

But age catches up with all of us and last season the pace of Sadio Mane undid Chelsea in both the goals with Terry being left nowhere for both Mane's goal in the home game and when he burst through at Stamford Bridge to earn Saints a penalty.

So the pace of Mane could now be key again and he will relish taking on the 34 year old on a one on one situation.

Seven teams have already scored at least twice against Chelsea and the attack minded Saints must now fancy their chances of making it eight if Terry does return to the starting line up on Saturday.

But it will not be easy and first Saints have to keep it tight at the back after having problems of their own defensively at the start of the season, however the signing of Virgil Van Dijk plus the return of Ryan Bertrand have added something to the back four that started the season and we will have every confidence of keeping it tight and getting something on the break.

The chances of catching them cold at the back have now increased if as rmoured John Terry plays and it will be interesting what formation Ronald Koeman employs and if he uses the speed of Jay Rodrigues and shane Long to rip into the heart of the Chelsea defence.

We hav not won at Stamford Bridge for a long time, but we have a chance now and Sadio Mane could be the key.

Photo: Action Images

dirk_doone added 11:51 - Oct 2 No, but it's very good news for Chelsea. They've been missing him badly.
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bstokesaint added 12:45 - Oct 2 The worst thing about having John Terry back is that he has a knack of scoring from set pieces against us. He's very good at that. On the flipside if we can gain possession from free kicks and corners and counter we could find ourselves in situations with a man over in attack. It should be an enthralling contest, but I'd still take a point. When Chelsea sort out their blip (because they are champions and that's what this is) a point at Stamford Brdige which will be a great result, particularly from a team with a poor record there.

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A1079 added 13:14 - Oct 2 If John Terry is back, he will have a good game, if, for no other reason, he will want people and the media to talk about how much Chelsea have missed him and how they still need him. It is good news for Chelsea.
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BoondockSaint added 13:34 - Oct 2 Not good news-how many times have we seen players in awful form suddenly have a great game when they play us? It's like we are an elixir! He may have got a bit slower, but he reads the game like no one else, and won't allow the rest of the defenders to fall asleep on the job like they have been doing the last few weeks. Ivanovic is the one to go after. His form has dropped off a cliff this year.

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dirk_doone added 00:11 - Oct 4 You were right, Nick.
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