Di Matteo banks on Moses to improve Chelsea

Chelsea manager Roberto Di Matteo has admitted Victor Moses will be a major influence at Stamford Bridge this season, as the gaffer reveals his satisfaction in signing the forward.

Di Matteo says he wanted to sign Moses “years ago” as the Italian looks set to hand the 21-year-old his full Chelsea debut on Tuesday.

Following his £9m transfer in the summer, Moses has impressed during his brief time at Stamford Bridge with two excellent substitute performances, and he is now expected to go in to the Blues’ starting line-up for their Capital One Cup clash against Wolves.

And had Di Matteo had his way, the former Crystal Palace player would have been playing under his command a lot sooner. The Chelsea boss said: “He’s young and he’ll still improve and develop but he’s an exciting player that I tried very hard to sign, not just this year but previously as well, years ago.”

Di Matteo added: “He’s a player I like very much and he will have a big influence in our season. He’s strong at holding the ball, his dribbling ability is very good, he can go past defenders, which not many can, and he’s got the pace as well.

“He’s very good at making runs in behind, he’s a very good player. It’s good that nobody else noticed.”

Di Matteo is expected to rest a number of the players who helped the Londoners to a 1-0 win over Stoke, especially as Chelsea play Arsenal next weekend. Marko Marin, Lucas Piazon and Cesar Azpilicueta could make their first appearances for the club while Moses may be employed as a lone striker to give Fernando Torres some time off.

“I’m sure there’ll be one or two that haven’t had much time on the pitch who’ll be playing on Tuesday,” said Di Matteo, whose team have only dropped two points so far this term.