Terry confident of success

John Terry today revealed a wave of confidence has flooded through the Chelsea dressing room and convinced the players they have the ability to be crowned champions of Europe.

The Blues are within touching distance of the Champions League quarter-finals and will secure their place in Friday’s draw if they see off Stuttgart at Stamford Bridge tomorrow night.

Claudio Ranieri’s men hold a 1-0 advantage from the first leg in Germany a fortnight ago and Terry admitted it is his team-mates’ ability to triumph on enemy territory which sparked their rush of self-belief.

Chelsea have won each of their five away games in Europe’s top club competition this season, including November’s spectacular 4-0 victory against Lazio in Rome.

And centre-back Terry, 23, said: “This is the first time I’ve played in the Champions League and it’s a great experience.

“We’ve got a mix of experience and youth and, deep down, every player believes we can win it.

“You have to have that confidence in yourself. We’ve already had a lot of wins and announced our arrival in European football.

“We always believe we can go and get a win and there’s no point going if you don’t believe that.”

Ranieri has a real selection poser to grapple with on the eve of a match which could have an important impact on his tenure in the Stamford Bridge dug-out.

New Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon has warned this season will be categorised as a failure unless the Italian manager secures some silverware.

That has proved impossible in both domestic cups – Chelsea being dumped out by Arsenal and Aston Villa – and the Blues trail their rivals Arsenal by nine points in the Barclaycard Premiership title race.

The Champions League is therefore the most realistic avenue for success – a state of play which could tempt Ranieri to hand Damien Duff his first start of 2004.

The Irish winger, the club’s £17million record signing and – by wide consensus - Ranieri’s most important player, has been dogged by shoulder and Achilles injuries.

The latter is still causing him discomfort – a situation which concerned Ranieri to the extent that he limited Duff to a late substitute appearance in Stuttgart.

In his absence, Chelsea failed to muster a single shot on target and only won because of Fernando Meira’s own goal.

Ranieri must now decide whether to pitch Duff back into the fray from kick-off.

“Damien is the man who can open every door for us,” the manager said.

“He’s an amazing player. He’s very important as he has ability, speed, good crossing and can read every player. He can score a goal and make a goal.

“He’s not the normal Damien at the moment though. It’s not easy when a player’s injured but he’s coming back and wants to end his frustration and do something for the team.”

Ranieri spoke of the significance of Duff’s role at a press conference today. But the boss also raised eyebrows at the media briefing when, despite being told by club officials not to comment on his own future, intriguingly stated that he cannot plan for his future at Stamford Bridge.

He told reporters: “I can’t look too far forward and you know why that is better than me.

“If you saw every day that Sven-Goran Eriksson was going to arrive, how could you look forward? I only look at the next day.”

Stuttgart arrived in London today boosted by a revival in their poor February fortunes.

Boss Felix Magath called his players to a clear-the-air dinner last week and they responded by winning 2-0 at Borussia Dortmund on Saturday.

They are third in the Bundesliga and will hope for better luck against Chelsea than on their last visit to England. They lost 2-0 against Manchester United in a Champions League group game in December.