Mikel Primed To Down Man Utd

John Mikel Obi has been named in the Chelsea team to start against Manchester United in today’s Community Shield match.

Mikel was ruled out of Nigeria’s World Cup squad with a knee injury but has now fully recovered and will play alongside Michael Essien and Frank Lampard as Carlo Ancellotti named his team on Friday.

Mikel declared that he is in good shape for the new season.

“My knee is good now and I am fully fit,” he said.

Ancellotti said there was little point changing his winning team from last season.

“After a fantastic season it was very difficult to change this squad. We could repeat it this year with these players,” Ancelotti told the club website on Friday.

“We want to do our best — Manchester United could be the most important opponent this season, like they were last season,” he said.