Thiago Silva has sent a message jeeing up his Chelsea teammates ahead of their FA Cup semi-final with Manchester City on Saturday. The Brazilian is in line to keep his place in the side after helping Mauricio Pochettino's men to a first clean sheet in almost three months against Everton.

Having been out of the via injury and then knocked down the pecking order, Silva has started the last two games for the Blues. Before that he hadn't played for eight weeks, sitting out four league games in a row on the bench.

Saturday could be his last-ever appearance at Wembley though. Silva is expected to leave the club at the end of the season having spent four years at Stamford Bridge. He is thought to be keen on a return to South America.

He has played in four domestic finals at Wembley since joining in the summer of 2020 but is yet to win one. Defeat to Manchester City would almost certainly end his chances of doing so again having also been absent for the Carabao Cup loss to Liverpool in February.

As one of the senior players in the side he has taken it upon himself to deliver a united message to the teams and fans. Writing online on Friday he said, "Tomorrow...[prayer hands emoji] All together blues! [blue heart emoji]".

Alongside an image of Silva celebrating Alfie Gilchrist's first goal for Chelsea against Everton earlier in the week, Silva also added the post to this Instagram story, reiterating the message. "Tomorrow...[prayer hands emoji] All together! [blue heart emoji]", he wrote again.

Cole Palmer will be central to Chelsea's plans for the game and has, just like Silva, hinted at his involvement, not that it needs saying. He posted a promotional graphic on his story with an image of himself walking down Wembley Way along with the match details.

The 21-year-old is also carrying the ball in his arms, perhaps a nod to his back-to-back hat-tricks at home in the past two weeks. He will now be hoping he can get one over his form side having played staring roles in the 1-1 and 4-4 draws from earlier this season.

Meanwhile, in a semi-final Saturday Twitter (X) post, Chelsea themselves have teased the involvement of two players. Palmer is one of them but alongside women's team stars Guru Reiten and Kadesiha Buchanan is stand-in men's captain Conor Gallagher.

Chelsea women face Barcelona in Spain on Saturday afternoon in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final tie. It will then be down to the men to try and reach the FA Cup later on in the day.

Days after scoring his first goal for the club, Gilchrist has also posted online, as has Raheem Sterling. The pair are both expected to be in the squad for the semi, with Sterling a possible change to the starting XI. He missed the Everton game and has been out of the side with form, injury, and illness all playing a part.

Moises Caicedo is another to have hinted at his place in the team, though once again this comes as little surprise. Now it is down to the players themselves to ensure that another Wembley trip is on the cards.

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