AVB’s going for broke

ANDRE VILLAS-BOAS last night admitted Chelsea only had themselves to blame for being on the brink of crashing out of the Champions League ahead of their do-or-die showdown against Valencia.

Villas-Boas refused to contemplate the prospect of the Blues exiting the competition before Christmas for the first time or the ignominy of being the man in charge were it to happen.

The 34-year-old last week insisted his job did not depend on the outcome of tonight’s game, which Chelsea must win or draw 0-0 to progress to the last 16.

But failure would pile more pressure than ever on the new man in charge, who acknowledged mistakes had been made in the Blues’ previous Group E matches that have left them facing the unthinkable.

“We just have ourselves to blame,” said Villas-Boas, whose side threw away winning positions in their three away games at Valencia, Genk and Bayer Leverkusen.

“During this campaign of five games, we’ve done pretty well in terms of performances but the small details have gone away from us in the last couple of minutes, at Valencia and Leverkusen.

“If that hadn’t happened, we would have been sitting here in a familiar position, like in the past, and, most likely, having qualified.”

Asked whether failure would dent his personal pride, he said: “I’m not going to answer that question.

“My focus is on [the] game, not what’s going to happen after it.”

He also sidestepped a question whether tonight’s game was the biggest of his life, saying: “It’s irrelevant what the game represents to me.

“Our mindset is to continue in the competition, so we approach the game with maximum care and with confidence for tomorrow.”

Villas-Boas insisted there would be no change to the club’s new attacking philosophy, despite a goalless draw being enough to progress.

“You’ve seen us play enough to know that we always take the initiative in a game,” he said.

“Valencia will want to get something because a goal represents a lot to them, and makes things even more difficult for us.

“But we will try and take the initiative again and won’t change our strategy.”

Jose Bosingwa was the only injury absentee as Chelsea trained yesterday.

Bosingwa, who has lost his place at right-back in recent weeks after a succession of erratic defensive displays, sat out the session due to an adductor strain. The 29-year-old is unlikely to start tonight’s game anyway, with Branislav Ivanovic set to keep him out of the side.

As expected, neither Nicolas Anelka or Alex trained with their teammates, having been banished from the first-team squad after submitting transfer requests.

Both look set to leave next month, which could be a busy one at Stamford Bridge if reports are to be believed.

Chelsea have been linked with several players, most notably Bolton defender Gary Cahill, while they must make up their minds whether to make fresh bids for Tottenham’s Luka Modric and Porto’s Alvaro Perreira, who they failed to sign in the summer.

They also need to decide whether to offload Didier Drogba and Salomon Kalou, both of whom are out of contract at the end of the season and have yet to sign new contracts.

Bosingwa and Paulo Ferreira have also been linked with a move away from a club who will be slightly less attractive to potential recruits should their involvement in the Champions League end tonight.