Sports

Guus Hiddink Hints At Possible Pato Debut

Guus Hiddink says Alexandre Pato could make his Barclays Premier League debut when Chelsea visit Aston Villa on Saturday.

The 26-year-old Brazilian joined Chelsea on loan from Corinthians in January and has yet to feature, but interim manager Hiddink says the forward’s fitness may have put him into the frame for the visit to Villa Park.

“Whether Pato will be actively involved we will see tomorrow,” Hiddink told chelseafc.com. “I don’t give any player a guarantee but there might be some time for experiments.

“Pato’s fitness has improved. He has worked very hard during the international break. When I started we had just Diego which was one of the reasons we got Pato on loan.

“Meanwhile there was development in, for instance, [Bertrand] Traore, so there was more competition for Pato. Remy has come back after a long-term injury too. I try to make a fair judgement and give opportunities to the others knocking on the door,” he said.

Focusing on the match itself, Hiddink expects the home side to be rejuvenated as they seek to impress new caretaker manager Eric Black.

”They were playing with a lot of ambition against Swansea. The team looked very fresh. When there is a change there is automatically a reaction. We can expect an entertaining game tomorrow.”

K Akintoye

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