Drogba: I'll be ready for Moscow
by Tom Adams, 12 May 2008
Didier Drogba insists he will be fit to compete in the Champions League final despite picking up a knee injury on the final day of the Premier League season.
The Chelsea striker had to partake in a lap of honour with an ice pack strapped to his knee after seeing Manchester United pip The Blues to the title by just two points.
Manager Avram Grant appeared fearful that, with John Terry being taken to hospital with an arm injury, he could have another first team star rated as doubtful for the Moscow date with United on May 21.
The Chelsea manager said: “It doesn’t look so good [for Drogba].
“He could not come off because we had used our subs.
“He did everything to finish the game but we need to wait.”
You need to upgrade your Flash Player
This is replaced by the Flash content.
Place your alternate content here and users without the Flash plugin or with
Javascript turned off will see this. Content here allows you to leave out
noscript
tags. Include a link to
bypass the detection if you wish.
However, Drogba appears determined to play in the biggest game of his career and his second European final, telling The Sun: “Of course I’ll be okay for the final.”
Chelsea now face a nervous wait to see if both Drogba and Terry will be fit to make the trip to Russia and the initial signs regarding their captain have been encouraging.
Terry returned from Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in time to lead the lap of honour at Stamford Bridge and believes he will make the Champions League final.
Grant remains slightly more cautious though, stating: “We’ll know if he is fit for the final in a few days.
“There are still ten days to go to Moscow so there is no need to make any rush decision.
“If you look at his character then I’m sure there won’t be a problem, he is strong enough to recover.”