Jones sets out his stall ahead of top flight encounter

'I want The Valley rocking and for us to give a performance where they can get behind it. We want a proper cup atmosphere. We want to make it a cup tie - a proper cup tie. I don’t want it to be like a Premier League game where the inevitable happens.

There is always a realistic opportunity (of an upset) but we can’t be disrespectful of the level Chelsea play at. Chelsea are a top six Premier League side. The gulf between the Championship and Premier League is big. The gulf between the Championship and League One is big.

This time last year we were two leagues apart and world’s apart in so much. We’ve managed to slightly bridge that gap but we know it will be a meteoric task. It is 11 v 11 and at home, we’re pleased it is at home. I’m not sure the finance director is, but we are pleased.

It is one we will be bold and brave in. I don’t want us to be passive in anything that we do. Let’s look forward to it.

There are certain details we have to get uber right because they have quality, technique and world-class players that can hurt you - but that is brilliant. The nerves…these are the games you want to be involved in.

Jones was asked about whether Chelsea had a lack of emotional discipline after a fifth red card in the top-flight this season.

I’m not sure you should be asking me about the emotional side of the game,” he laughed. “It is the heat of the battle. The chance they got which led to the red, I don’t think it was an emotional decision. It’s not that Cucurella lashed out - someone got the wrong side of him.

I don’t want to comment on Chelsea’s disciplinary problems, I’ve only just come back from a ban myself. My emotional side is probably not in the dictionary.

Hopefully they come and are an emotional side but I have no idea of their emotional state in any given game.'

It will be a great atmosphere tomorrow tonight, but CAS Trust reminds us that next Saturday's game against Sheffield United is more important: https://www.castrust.org/2026/01/the-cup-tie-all-london-is-waiting-for/

Chelsea fans don't seem too happy with the way their club is being run.  

A snap survey by Chelsea Supporters’ Trust has revealed that over 90 per cent of fans do not have confidence in “the ownership group’s football-related decision-making”, while more than 80 per cent are not confident that the club is being run in a way that will deliver “sustained success over the next three to five years”.

The survey, which garnered nearly 4,000 responses in 48 hours, also found that more than 40 per cent of respondents felt the club’s current sporting structure is “not fit for purpose”, with a further 42.69 per cent believing it has “significant weaknesses”.

The most damning response was surely in relation to satisfaction with the owners’ football decisions, with 53.7 per cent of respondents having “no confidence at all” and 36.9 per cent “not very much confidence”.

Chelsea are owned by BlueCo, the Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital consortium that also owns Ligue 1 side Strasbourg. On Tuesday, the French club’s supporters also expressed displeasure at the way their club is run, calling for their club president’s exit after the “humiliating” departure of Rosenior.