How Chelsea team will be picked vs Man City as interim boss hails Blues hierarchy | OneFootball

Chelsea interim boss Calum McFarlane has revealed how he will select his starting XI to face Manchester City in the Premier League.

McFarlane, who is Chelsea's Under-21s head coach, was officially introduced to the first-team before Friday morning's training session after being given the nod by the club's hierarchy to lead the team against Man City following Enzo Maresca's departure earlier this week.

He hasn't had long to prepare for Sunday's massive fixture, Chelsea's first of nine matches in January.

Whilst getting the Chelsea squad prepared to face Pep Guardiola's side, McFarlane will need to decide on the team he will select to start at the Etihad.

He has already had one decision made for him. Midfielder Moises Caicedo is unavailable due to suspension. Meanwhile, Marc Cucurella's involvement remains undecided having returned to training after a hamstring problem.

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McFarlane confirmed how he will go about choosing his side, with the medical team being involved as they look to manage players, including Cole Palmer and Reece James.

"It's difficult to pick any team at any moment," McFarlane told reporters. "It's probably the hardest part of the job even on the Under-21s level. You're going to disappoint people, you're going to leave people out but you've got to do what feels best in that moment.

"We'll obviously be speaking to the medical team. Obviously that's coming back from injuries we have to manage like you do at any club at any level. It's all pretty routine in that but we'll pick the best team that we feel like is ready to play that game and compete."

After confirmation of Maresca's exit was given around lunchtime on New Year's Day, McFarlane and the other Chelsea staff began working on analysing Man City to form ideas of how to approach Sunday's match.

"We had the whole of yesterday to get our heads around how they've been playing and what their games have looked like and quite lucky that they played last night as well so we got to watch that game," he added. "So now I think we've had a chance to have a look and put some ideas together.

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In the background, Chelsea are working on finding a permanent successor for Maresca. RC Strasbourg's Liam Rosenior is currently the leading candidate, while Andoni Iraola is reportedly among the options being considered.

The hierarchy have had a chance to speak with McFarlane in the meantime and have offered their full support whilst he carries out the caretaker duties.

"I spoke to the directors and the owners and like I said, they've been really supportive," said McFarlane. "They've given us everything we need to be successful and nothing more we can ask for. They've been fully on board and we're all in it together."