Chelsea hopes in Delap of the gods

LUIZ FELIPE SCOLARI will take a step into the unknown when he leads Chelsea into the Britannia Stadium today – and he is relishing the adventure.

Scolari has been preparing Chelsea to deal with Rory Delap’s extraordinary long throws, a profitable tactic for Stoke this season but not one used too often at the top levels of Brazilian football.

Stoke narrowed their pitch during the summer to the minimum permitted dimensions of 100m x 64m and Delap’s 37mph projectiles have helped create goals against both Everton and Aston Villa this season.