Chelsea coach Antonio Conte is considering resting Gary Cahill on Saturday, following the defender’s accidental clash with Ryan Mason.

Cahill is the only Chelsea player in the squad to start every match this term, but his streak could come to an end when they play Brentford in the FA Cup Fourth Round at Stamford Bridge.

The England international was left distraught by what happened during Chelsea's win over Hull on Sunday, when his head collided with Mason's in the 12th minute.

After eight minutes of treatment on the pitch, Mason was rushed to hospital to have treatment on a fractured skull.

Cahill left soon after Chelsea’s 2-0 victory to visit Mason at St Mary's hospital, although ended up just spending time with his family because the midfielder was in surgery at the time.

Mason has been making 'excellent progress' since then, but Conte may still decide to give Cahill a break from playing.

The Chelsea coach will monitor Cahill in training this week and see if he is ready to feature.

After the players were given the day off on Monday they all, including Cahill, returned to action yesterday.

It is believed Cahill has been taking part in the sessions as normal and has been buoyed by the positive news that Mason's condition is improving.

Conte was considering making mass changes to his first XI anyway given that the League leaders have two huge matches in the title race the following week.

They play at Liverpool on Tuesday night before taking on London rivals Arsenal at home four days later.

Conte has many options to fill in for Cahill and other regular members of Chelsea's backline like David Luiz, who has been wearing strapping on his right leg ever since a terrible tackle by Manchester City forward Sergio Aguero at the start of December.

Captain John Terry, Branislav Ivanovic, Kurt Zouma, Ola Aina and Nathan Ake, who has just returned from a loan spell at Bournemouth, are all in the frame for a rare start.

Zouma played the full 90 minutes of Chelsea's 4-1 win over Peterborough United in the Third Round and is still getting used to Conte's new 3-4-3 formation.

It was Zouma's first appearance for 11 months after a serious knee injury and he said: "With three central defenders it's a bit different because even if you are to the right, you're still in the middle, you're not on the side.

"You all defend together, but if you're in the middle you need to see attackers from both sides.

"There is a bit more responsibility on the ball in the middle but I'm prepared for all of the positions.

"My aim for the rest of the season is just to play and enjoy it. I'm so happy to be back."

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