Ranieri challenges his players to avoid slip-ups

CLAUDIO RANIERI has challenged his new-look Chelsea to prove today that they can avoid the type of banana skin upon which the club have slipped up on so many previous occasions.

Chelsea travel to Wolves for a lunchtime kick-off, with most fans expecting three points to be taken as read against a newly-promoted side who have so far struggled to adapt to Premiership life.

However, Chelsea have been undermined by over-confidence in such games in the past and have failed to raise their games sufficiently when put under physical pressure.

Ranieri started to address such failings last season, instilling more of a backbone into his team, and is determined to ensure they continue in the same vein after their summer spending spree.

“If we don’t understand this, we cannot improve. These are the matches with more difficulties,” he declared.

“We must increase our mentality, our focus and our motivation. I think we’re ready to play against Wolves, I feel this, but I want to see it. I am always pragmatic,” he says.

The chances are that Ranieri will ring the changes once again by recalling several players with a wealth of Premiership experience.

While Marcel Desailly and Adrian Mutu have ankle injuries which are not too serious, it is hard to see why he would risk either player when he could turn to John Terry and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink or Eidur Gudjohnsen. With Geremi suspended, the likes of Frank Lampard, Damien Duff and maybe Joe Cole could also start at Molineux.

Ranieri, who made seven changes in midweek for his side’s Champions League tie at Sparta Prague, is certainly expecting a tough encounter.

After all, he has seen just how Wolves have gamely responded to their early season problems with a narrow defeat at Old Trafford and a draw against Portsmouth.

“It will be a very compact game because they have drawn only once against Portsmouth and they want to get a result,” he added.

The Chelsea boss added: “There will be a lot of difficulties but the team must be ready to overcome them. I always say to the players the result is not all-important, I want to see the attitude, the performance and the passion,” he said.

Lampard also accepts Chelsea are now under pressure to achieve instant results, especially against so-called smaller clubs, after spending so much on their squad.

“It is pressure. Wolves haven’t had the best start but they worked hard at Old Trafford and could have possibly got a result there,” he said.

“But there’s no doubt they’ll be up for the game and make it difficult for us. We have to show the desire and work-rate to match them, so we can play our football.”

Lampard, who was a second-half substitute in Prague, added: “The manager explained the situation to the players, that he will rotate the squad and use different tactics against different teams.

“It is difficult for players to take but you have to understand that the be-all and end-all is Chelsea being successful,” said Lampard.

Meanwhile, Henri Camara is back to boost Wolves. The Senegal striker has recovered from the toe infection which ruled him out of last Saturday’s defeat at Southampton and is expected to regain his place in the starting line-up.

And boss Dave Jones is further boosted by Hassan Kachloul’s recovery from a groin strain which ought to ensure the former Villa man his Wolves debut.

But Jones has a slight doubt over striker Nathan Blake (hamstring) while goalkeeper Matt Murray suffered a setback in midweek and has still not recovered sufficiently from his back strain.