Walsall vs Chelsea: John Terry and Radamel Falcao to return for Capital One Cup tie

Chelsea captain John Terry will be recalled for the Capital One Cup third round tie at League One side Walsall after missing the Premier League win over Arsenal. Terry was dropped from the starting eleven for the first time by Jose Mourinho but will return for the match at the Bescot Stadium alongside Radamel Falcao, who is set for his first start for the holders.

The Colombia international has made three substitute appearances for the Blues this season since joining the Premier League champions on a season-long loan deal from Monaco – following a disastrous spell at Manchester United. Falcao will start ahead of Diego Costa, who will be on the bench should he avoid retrospective punishment for his attack on Arsenal defenders Laurent Koscielny and Gabriel Paulista.

"I will play Radamel Falcao. Diego goes on the bench," confirmed Mourinho, according to the Evening Standard, after the 2-0 win over the Gunners. "Sure, of course," he responded to being asked if Terry would be involved against Walsall. Fractures in the relationship between Terry and Mourinho were first highlighted when the former England captain was withdrawn at half-time in Chelsea's defeat to Manchester City in August.

Mourinho has been forced to deny claims made by ex-Liverpool skipper Steven Gerrard that the pair have fallen out, however those accusations were given more weight when Terry was dropped for the crunch visit of Arsenal, having also missed Chelsea's Champions League opener against Maccabi Tel Aviv. "John Terry does not need me to speak with him," the Portuguese boss explained, according to The Daily Mail.

"He knows what I feel. He knows the relationship, he knows he's my man. He knows that if I have to choose one out of 25 to be my man, he is the first. He knows that I care about him. He knows that nothing is at risk. He knows that my decision was only to help my team win the match.

"I thought Arsenal were coming to play a defensive game with a fast striker who gets behind people. We had to bring our defensive line up and to play against Theo Walcott the best player we have is Zouma."

Costa, meanwhile, faces an anxious wait to see if he will be punished further for a series of incidents against Arsenal, for which he was shown a yellow card by referee Mike Dean. The Football Association will assess Dean's report before making a decision over whether to take further action and Mourinho has naturally defended the Chelsea striker.

"If you want to speak about Diego Costa with me it is just that he played like he had to play," he told a post-match press conference, according to BBC Sport. "That is why you have full stadiums, you sell to television around the world for millions because the game has to be played like that.

"Man of the match for me. Of course not [a red card]. The referee was there, it was the same referee that made every decision in the game, who didn't give us two clear penalties. I have to cope with my defeats, tonight [Arsene Wenger] has to cope with his defeats.