Chelsea boss Rafa Benitez explained keeping John Terry and Ashley Cole on the bench for their 1-0 Europa League first-leg victory at Sparta Prague.

Benitez says both players could have been called upon if required.

He said: "Terry had a slight setback during the week and then he was fine again, he had no reaction in the next training session, but we have to manage the situation.

"He has to train with the team regularly and then he will have more chance to play, but it's a vicious circle because if he doesn't play he can't improve his match fitness.

"We have to manage and in the meantime [Gary] Cahill and [Branislav] Ivanovic are doing well. They were doing really well in training and they did well today, I was really pleased with both, so credit to them.

"Ashley had a cold but we wanted to give Ryan Bertrand a chance. To manage the squad it's a good option to have."