v 
BLUES
Alan McCormack misses out for Southend as he serves a one-match suspension. Francis Laurent also misses out because of injury, but striker Damian Scannell is available after completing his loan spell with Brentford.
So who for Macca? The Moose could be in for the match of his life but I can see Tilly moving Grant into the middle and bringing Francis or Betsy out to the right. Personally, I'd go with the youngster and keep defensive stabilty.
Blues boss Steve Tilson is certainly up for it: "These nights don't come along too often and I think we've got to make the most of it. The players, supporters and the club itself should all enjoy the occasion and hopefully, with a lot of luck, you never know what might happen."
Goalscoring hero Peter Clarke is well aware what a tough task this game is: "The league is still more important than the cup but hopefully these games with Chelsea can kick start our season. We've done well to take the tie to a replay and the pressure is still all on them. We are under no illusions what a tough task it's going to be - they'll have the lion's share of possession, but we'll aim to stay in the game for as long as we can."
Goalkeeping hero Steve Mildenhall was short but sweet: "I enjoyed playing at Stamford Bridge, but they won't like coming here. That first match was very memorable - and hopefully the second one will be as well."
OPPOSITION
Chelsea are almost at full-strength, missing only long-term knee ligament victim Michael Essien and France winger Florent Malouda (hamstring).
John Terry and, possibily, Michael Ballack will return. Frank Lamaprd and the two Coles, Andy and Joe, should start again.
What is known is that Luiz Felipe Scolari has decided to play Nicolas Anelka up front on his own and axe out of form striker Didier Drogba.
| Latest match Sunday, 11th January 2009 | Pld | Home | Away | Overall | Pts | GD | |||||||||||||||||
| W | D | L | F | A | W | D | L | F | A | W | D | L | F | A | |||||||||
| 1 | Liverpool | 21 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 16 | 6 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 19 | 7 | 13 | 7 | 1 | 35 | 13 | 46 | +22 | ||||
| 2 | Chelsea | 21 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 17 | 6 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 23 | 6 | 12 | 6 | 3 | 40 | 12 | 42 | +28 | ||||
| 3 | Manchester United | 19 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 23 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 9 | 6 | 12 | 5 | 2 | 32 | 10 | 41 | +22 | ||||
| 4 | Aston Villa | 21 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 18 | 12 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 17 | 11 | 12 | 5 | 4 | 35 | 23 | 41 | +12 | ||||
Luiz Felipe Scolari has taken the blame for Chelsea's loss at Manchester United on Sunday, but says they must now pull together if they are to bounce back. The Chelsea boss said he was wrong to open up the midfield at Old Trafford, and conceded his poor set-piece planning cost them in the 3-0 defeat.
Scolari said: "It's more my error than the players. Now I need to change systems and start from new. We need more to work together and when it is wrong we need more togetherness. There has been no row with me. It is my choice sometimes - this or that player. I have 24 good players but only two centre-forwards. One is playing and not the other. Everybody thinks it is easy to play two strikers because they are good, but I try to prove to the people and for me and Chelsea, that is difficult. When one player is outside, as was Didier Drogba, he needs to play two, three or four games, and in that time I need to look at what's happened. Afterwards I have to decide. It is my option."
Defending his tactics on Sunday, Scolari continued: "I read that the press said that I opened the midfield against Manchester United - sure, this is the reality. I say this to the press - I opened the midfield and I am responsible for us conceding the goals because I tried to change the result. (Losing) 1-0, 3-0 or 5-0 is the same to me. Other coaches try to say 'no'. I say 'yes, I am wrong' - this is my style. But after one victory, or two or three, we will relax and win more. We just need more attention and more togetherness. Southend is the game of the year. We need to think the same way. It's the FA Cup. If our spirit is not the same as Southend's, then it's difficult, but if our spirit is the same then we have good chance because we have better players than Southend. But we need to prove it on the pitch."
PREVIOUSLY
Damn, we play them better away from the Hall.
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The man in the middle is Chris Foy from Merseyside.
FIXTURES
Wednesday, January 14th 2009: F.A. Cup Third Round;
Crystal Palace v Leicester (19.45), Newcastle v Hull (19.45).
BET
Southend (9) Draw (5) Chelsea (1/4) - all after 90 minutes.
For all the odds on Southend v Chelsea go here: www.oddschecker.com/football/english/fa-cup/southend-v-chelsea/win-market
How about 40/1 on Peter Clarke scoring again but first this time?
HISTORY
Chelsea were founded on 14 March 1905 at The Rising Sun pub (now The Butcher's Hook), opposite the present-day main entrance to the ground on Fulham Road, and were elected to the Football League shortly afterwards.
The club's early years saw little success; the closest they came to winning a major trophy was reaching the FA Cup final in 1915, where they lost to Sheffield United. Chelsea gained a reputation for signing big-name players and for being entertainers, but made little impact on the English game in the inter-war years.
Former England centre-forward Ted Drake became manager in 1952 and proceeded to modernise the club. He removed the club's Chelsea pensioner crest, improved the youth set-up and training regime, rebuilt the side, and led Chelsea to their first major trophy success - the League Championship - in 1954-55. The following season saw UEFA create the European Champions' Cup, but after objections from The Football League and the FA Chelsea were persuaded to withdraw from the competition before it started.
The 1960s saw the emergence of a talented young Chelsea side under manager Tommy Docherty. They challenged for honours throughout the decade, and endured several near-misses. They were on course for a treble of League, FA Cup and League Cup going into the final stages of the 1964-65 season, winning the League Cup but faltering late on in the other two. In three seasons the side were beaten in three major semi-finals and were FA Cup runners-up.
In 1970 Chelsea were FA Cup winners, beating Leeds United 2-1 in a final replay. Chelsea took their first European honour, a UEFA Cup Winners' Cup triumph, the following year, with another replayed win, this time over Real Madrid in Athens.
The late 1970s and the 1980s were a turbulent period for Chelsea. An ambitious redevelopment of Stamford Bridge threatened the financial stability of the club, star players were sold and the team were relegated. Further problems were caused by a notorious hooligan element among the support,
which was to plague the club throughout the decade.
In 1982 Chelsea were, at the nadir of their fortunes, acquired by Ken Bates for the nominal sum of £1, although by now the Stamford Bridge freehold had been sold to property developers, meaning the club faced losing their home. On the pitch, the team had fared little better, coming close to relegation to the Third Division for the first time, but in 1983 manager John Neal put together an impressive new team for minimal outlay. Chelsea won the Second Division title in 1983-84 and established themselves in the top division, before being relegated again in 1988. The club bounced back immediately by winning the Second Division championship in 1988-89.
Gullit was replaced by Gianluca Vialli, who led the team to victory in the League Cup and the Cup Winners' Cup in 1998, the FA Cup in 2000 and the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals in 2000. Vialli was sacked in favour of another Italian, Claudio Ranieri, who guided Chelsea to the 2002 FA Cup final and Champions League qualification in 2002-03.
In June 2003, Bates sold Chelsea to Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich for £140 million, completing what was then the biggest-ever sale of an English football club. Over £100 million was spent on new players, but Ranieri was unable to deliver any trophies, so he was replaced by Portuguese coach José Mourinho. Under Mourinho, Chelsea became the fifth English team to win back-to-back league championships since the Second World War (2004-05 and 2005-06), in addition to winning an FA Cup (2007) and two League Cups (2005 and 2007).
In September 2007 Mourinho was replaced by Avram Grant, who led the club to their first UEFA Champions League Final, in which they were defeated in a penalty shoot-out by Manchester United. Grant was sacked days later and succeeded by Luiz Felipe Scolari in July 2008.
This season they have lost to Burnley in the Carling Cup on penalties and been held to a draw by League One Southend in the F.A. Cup, both at Stamford bridge. Scolari is still there, for now.
(Thanks to the all the usual suspects for their help with this article.)