Čech underlines Chelsea desire

For the first time in three seasons Chelsea FC are lagging behind their rivals in the Premier League, but goalkeeper Petr Čech chose the eve of their UEFA Champions League home game with FC Schalke 04 to reiterate that their determination to win trophies is as strong as ever.

Poor start
The Londoners made up ground in Europe by following their disappointing home draw against Rosenborg BK with an impressive 2-1 victory at Valencia CF to seize pole position in Group B – and Čech believes they can make up the difference on the domestic front as well. "Our expectations are always the same," said the 25-year-old. "We have one of the best teams in Europe and we always want to win. Even though we had that spell when points were dropped and there was a change of manager, our goals for the season remained unchanged. We need to catch up in the league, we want to qualify for the next round of the Champions League, and we will be chasing all the trophies."

Comeback kings
Chelsea have made a habit of conceding the first goal in European competition. It happened in both their previous fixtures this term and also in all four matches against FC Porto and Valencia in last season's knockout rounds. Čech is adamant that this time they will not put their supporters through another difficult night. "The last result at home was a disappointment for us and our fans," he said. "This is the time to play well, show that we can win and score goals, and make the fans happy."

Kuranyi threat
Stamford Bridge will showcase a comparison of two prominent strikers with Didier Drogba and Kevin Kuranyi vying to claim the match-winning honours. Čech got a close-up of Kuranyi's ability as the Czech Republic won 3-0 in Germany last week to seal their qualification for UEFA EURO 2008™, while he needs no persuading to sing the praises of Drogba, who was reported last week as saying he was disillusioned at Chelsea.

Brilliant Drogba
"Even though Kuranyi did not score against us, he was still very dangerous and Schalke will be relying on him to score," noted Čech. "He always takes up good positions and is strong in the air. Didier opened his heart in his interview, but for the club, the players and the fans, the most important thing is how he plays on the field and he is always brilliant, always fighting, always giving 100 per cent. He wants to score goals and wants to win and that is the main thing."