Grant lifted by trio’s return

AVRAM GRANT is probably due a slice of luck as he battles to keep alive Chelsea’s season and his own job prospects, and last night his fortune appeared to take a turn for the better.

Michael Ballack, Didier Drogba and Frank Lampard, who had been expected to miss tomorrow’s Champions League semi-final with Liverpool through a combination of injury and compassionate leave, all trained yesterday.

Ballack and Drogba, who both missed last Thursday’s win at Everton through ankle injuries, have made quick progress in their rehabilitation, with Ballack’s recovery especially timely. With Michael Essien suspended and Lampard’s involvement uncertain as his mother remains sick in hospital with pneumonia, Grant had been facing a midfield selection crisis.

Ballack would give the Israeli another welcome option and it is feasible Lampard could also return.

The England midfielder did not train at all last week as he remained at his mother’s bedside but the fact he made himself available for yesterday’s session at Chelsea’s Cobham training headquarters suggests he feels mentally ready to return.

“We miss Frank, we miss Ballack, we miss Didier,” Grant said. “I think you saw what happened last year when we missed only two players. Imagine what would have happened if we played without Lampard too.

“But I am very proud of this squad, how they behave and take points without key players. We know the qualities of Liverpool and they know the qualities of us. I don't think there will be surprises but I have a good feeling.”

One midfielder who will not be featuring at all for Chelsea is Ronaldinho.

The west Londoners had been courting the Brazilian, who will leave Barcelona at the end of the season, with Roman Abramovich apparently keen to add some south American flair to a squad he considers too dour.

But Ernesto Bonzetti, who is acting as the intermediary for Milan in the Italian club’s talks with Barca, has claimed the player turned down the chance of a move to Stamford Bridge.

“Few can afford Ronaldinho, so Milan and Chelsea are the clubs who have sought him out most insistently,” Bronzetti said yesterday, although indications last night were that the Brazilian proposed move to San Siro had collapsed.

Liverpool, meanwhile, have their own selection concerns. Rafael Benitez, the manager, had already planned to make sweeping changes to his usual starting side at Fulham on Saturday but the absence of Steven Gerrard was also due to a neck injury.

“We were heading balls in training,” Benitez said. “He had scored maybe four or five headed goals. I told the other players to look for other team-mates rather than him because every cross was for him. Then he felt his neck.

“I didn’t know it was that serious, though. We will talk together, with the doctor. The player will say he wants to play, but there’s an easy way of finding out whether he’s fit. I will come up and tap him on the left shoulder and if he turns to face me without any pain, we will know he can play.”

It remains unlikely Gerrard would allow a relatively minor injury to keep him out of the biggest game of Liverpool’s season and the news is also positive for Manchester United.

Alex Ferguson expects to have Wayne Rooney, Edwin van der Sar, Anderson and Owen Hargreaves available for the Champions League semi-final first leg with Barcelona this week, despite all three nursing minor fitness problems.

Rooney hobbled out of the weekend draw at Blackburn with a hip problem while goalkeeper van der Sar and midfielders Anderson and Hargreaves were ruled out before the trip to Ewood Park. But Ferguson is confident all four players will be fit to face the La Liga side.

“Wayne got a knock on his hip but I’m sure he’ll be okay,” Ferguson added. “Edwin van der Sar should be okay, as should Owen and Anderson.”