Chelsea defenders Gary Cahill and David Luiz winning fight to be fit for Champions League final in Munich The news on Luiz and Cahill has provided a welcome boost to Chelsea, who are in the middle of a punishing schedule of eight key fixtures in just 23 days. Not since early March have Chelsea's squad enjoyed so much as a week's break between fixtures, and Di Matteo admitted that it had been a challenge keeping his players fresh. "We have tried to give the players as much recovery mentally and physically as possible," he said. It's very challenging, very demanding. We are doing our best to keep them as fresh as possible, to put out a team that has enough energy to win the game. Di Matteo lamented the fact that both Newcastle on Wednesday and Liverpool on Saturday will have had one more day's rest than his own side. "The fixture list has not been kind to us," he said. It's great to be involved in this big game with Newcastle. It would have been better to play it at the weekend, but because of how well we've done in the Champions League and the FA Cup, it's been rescheduled like this. It's not ideal. However, Di Matteo insisted that he would not rest players for Wednesday's crucial game against one of their rivals for a top-four finish. "I've always tried to put together a team to win the game," he said. Newcastle manager Alan Pardew fears this is the worst possible time for Newcastle to face Di Matteo's resurgent side. Newcastle's 4-0 defeat at Wigan Athletic has checked soaring expectations on Tyneside, although Pardew refused to accept their Champions League challenge was ruined at the DW Stadium. "The whole of the Chelsea team has momentum," Pardew said. We're not the only good team that has come unstuck at Wigan. Chelsea (probable): Cech; Ferreira, Ivanovic, Terry, Cole; Mata, Essien, Lampard; Sturridge, Torres, Kalou. Newcastle (probable): Krul; Simpson, Coloccini, Williamson, Santon; Gutiérrez, Tiote, Cabaye; Ben Arfa, Cisse, Ba.