Wilkins criticises Spanish boss’ rotation policy.
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Ray Wilkins has hit out at Chelsea boss Rafa Benitez over his selection policy this weekend according to talkSport.
Chelsea booked their place in the FA Cup semi-finals with a 1-0 victory over Manchester United on Monday after Demba Ba scored a stunning winner for the Champions League Champions.
But the club lost vital ground in the race for a Champions League qualification spot as they went down 2-1 to Southampton two days earlier.
That allowed Tottenham to leapfrog them into third place and Wilkins believes Benitez got his selection policy wrong over the weekend.
Benitez claimed his rotation policy was justified by the result against league leaders Manchester United in the cup but Wilkins insists that booking their place in next season’s Champions League should have been the priority.
Wilkins went on to question the idea that the club’s players are incapable of playing two matches in three days.
The former Chelsea man pointed out that the players are ‘super-fit’ athletes and suggested they would actually benefit from playing regular matches.
Ashley Cole pulled up with a hamstring injury 15 minutes into the game with Manchester United and Wilkins believes the injury never would have happened had Cole been chosen to play against Southampton.
‘I honestly feel he has to play all the time, Ashley’ said Wilkins.
‘He is one of these machines. You have to keep it well oiled and it will fly. Had he played on Saturday, he wouldn’t have done that yesterday.’