Hilario steps up as Cech is ruled out

Posted Friday, July 23, 2010 by theguardian.com

Henrique Hilário steps up after Petr Cech is ruled out for a month

Henrique Hilário is expected to play against Manchester United in the Community Shield.

Henrique Hilário is in line to start the new season in goal for Chelsea, after the club confirmed that Petr Cech had torn the calf muscle in his right leg and would be sidelined for the next four weeks.

Carlo Ancelotti, the manager, is expected to prefer Hilário to his other back-up goalkeeper, Ross Turnbull, for the Community Shield fixture against Manchester United two weeks on Sunday and the Premier League opener at home to West Bromwich Albion the following Saturday. If Cech's rehabilitation goes according to plan, he should be back for the game at Wigan Athletic on 21 August.

Cech had returned to Chelsea training on 5 July, together with Hilário and Turnbull, and he had hoped to benefit from a full pre-season, as a side-effect of the Czech Republic failing to qualify for the World Cup. But after playing for 30 minutes in the 1-0 win at Crystal Palace on Saturday he will now miss the club's remaining friendlies against Ajax, Eintracht Frankfurt and Hamburg.

Hilário was put through extra training yesterday by the goalkeeping coach Christophe Lollichon, after Cech felt his calf muscle tear during a routine jog and the 34-year-old Portuguese, who made 11 appearances in all competitions last season, is preparing for a return to the spotlight.