CHELSEA have been officially warned not to field a weakened team against Wanderers tomorrow.

There has been increasing speculation - especially in the blue half of Merseyside - that Gianluca Vialli may not field his strongest team because three days later they face VfB Stuttgart in the European Cup Winners Cup final.

But the Premier League hae confirmed that they had been in touch with Chelsea to remind them of their responsibility to the rest of the Premiership.

A spokesman said: "Rule B6 of the Premier League rules states: 'Each club shall play its full strength team in all League matches'. Chelsea have acknowledged this obligation and we expect the club to adhere to the rules."

Meanwhile, the injury problems hitting Vialli in advance of the game seem to be easing.

Frank Leboeuf and Graeme Le Saux, both rated as doubts earlier in the week, are expected to be fit, although major Stockholm doubt Gianfranco Zola is still missing.

Chelsea will rest some players but there is no question of a reserve-strength team being fielded.

Le Saux promised: "I'm sure we'll put out as strong a side as we can. It might only be a couple of days before the Cup Winners' final but I know the manager will want to give everybody a run-out and I certainly want to play."

Team (from): Kharine, Clarke, Leboeuf, Charvet, Le Saux, Petrescu, Di Matteo, Newton, Poyet, M Hughes, Flo, Vialli, P Hughes, Wise, Nicholls, Granville, Morris, De Goey, Duberry, Myers.

Previous sport story

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.