Roberto Di Matteo has revealed that he decided to leave John Terry and Frank Lampard out of the Chelsea starting lineup today to prevent the pair from becoming "burned out".

The England duo were surprise omissions from the starting lineup as the Blues overcame Stoke City thanks to a late Ashley Cole strike at Stamford Bridge.

Despite a high level of confusion over his decision to leave two of his senior players on the bench, Di Matteo has insisted that he will continue to rotate his squad throughout the season.

"We were just utilising the squad," he told reporters. "We have some good players, and we wanted to bring some fresh ones in.

"We've done it many times before and we'll continue to use the squad, because we play so many games. We don't want to get to November and be burned out.

"John Terry and Frank Lampard are fantastic. They are two big members of the team, two leaders and they lead by example."

Di Matteo's side currently top the Premier League table.