Ashley Cole on bench for Chelsea's clash with Tottenham
Cole is likely to be Fabio Capello's first-choice left-back in South Africa
Chelsea left-back Ashley Cole will be on the bench for his side's Premier League game with Tottenham on Saturday.
Cole, 29, broke his ankle in Chelsea's 2-1 defeat by Everton on 10 February.
His return will be a welcome boost for England manager Fabio Capello, who announces his initial 35-man World Cup squad on 12 May.
Cole could now play league games against Stoke, Liverpool and Wigan and the FA Cup final against Portsmouth as he bids to prove his England fitness.
"He has trained well all week, is totally recovered and is 100% fit," said Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti.
Cole is Capello's first choice at left-back and the Italian will face a selection dilemma if Cole fails to prove his fitness because Manchester City's Wayne Bridge made himself unavailable for his country in the wake of the John Terry scandal.
Chelsea are four points ahead of Manchester United at the top of the Premier League table with four games to go and play Portsmouth in the FA Cup final at Wembley next month.
But Ancelotti is refusing to take the title for granted, insisting: "It's not a formality.
"We have to play some very difficult and important games and we have to pay attention. We know we have to fight."
Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp called upson his players to repeat the heroics of Wednesday's win over north London rivals Arsenal as they chase the final Champions League place.
"We need to beat Chelsea to try to keep pushing for that fourth spot. It's a tough run-in and they don't come any tougher than Chelsea. They are looking the strongest team.
"The atmosphere at White Hart Lane on Wednesday was amazing and we need that again now. We need a lift to keep us going. We have got a lot of tired players at the moment."
Long-term injury victims Aaron Lennon and Jermaine Jenas will miss the game along with Croatians Niko Kranjcar and Vedran Corluka, casualties from the FA Cup semi-final loss to Portsmouth.
Lennon, who is desperate to get fit for the World Cup finals, is making slow progress in returning from an groin injury that has kept him out since December.
Jenas, who scored the first goal of Fabio Capello's England reign, should be back in contention for the visit to Manchester United a week on Saturday having been laid low by a virus following his recovery from a hernia operation.
The only good team news for Spurs is the prospect of Ledley King playing back-to-back games after his impressive performance on Wednesday, having not played since February.
E-mail this to a friend 
Printable version 
Bookmark with:
What are these?