Chelsea boss Andre Villas-Boas says new signing Gary Cahill is ready for his debut today against Manchester United.

Villas-Boas was confident Cahill would be able to help fill the void left by the injured John Terry.

"I think he has been ready from the start, to be fair - he's trained magnificently well," said the Portuguese, who reiterated the decision not to play Cahill against Swansea was based on the past performances of his other defenders.

Villas-Boas admitted the loss of Terry and Cole was "massive" because of their partnership on the left side of Chelsea's defence.

"It's a blow more in the sense of those two not being there to link together," he said.