Cech a doubt for Sunday

Petr Cech faces a race to be fit for Sunday's Premier League clash with Everton after being forced out of their goalless draw with Schalke in Gelsenkirchen on Tuesday night.

The Czech international goalkeeper injured his calf in the later stages of the first half of the Champions League clash and was replaced by Carlo Cudicini at the interval.

Chelsea coach Avram Grant was unsure how long Cech might be out of action but the goalkeeper limped away from the Veltins-Arena on crutches.

Grant said: "He could not continue in the second half. How bad the injury is we need to wait and see. It is a calf injury and I asked the doctor if he could continue and he couldn't. But Carlo Cudicini came on and played well."

The stalemate against Schalke kept Chelsea top of Group B and they now only need to win one of their two remaining games against Valencia at home or away to Rosenborg to qualify for the knockout stage.

Schalke twice hit the woodwork in the second half while Chelsea striker Didier Drogba wasted a hat-trick of chances to secure all three points.

Had Chelsea won they would have qualified for the next phase following Rosenborg's victory over Valencia in Spain.

But Grant declared: "We wanted to win but it was not easy to play Schalke at home. They needed to win because a draw was not good enough. It was not a bad result but not our best game.

"After so many good games in a short time we can have one game that is not in the high level. It is also an away game against a team who feel very good playing at home."

Now Grant is confident that his side can finish the job of reaching the next phase.

Grant added: "The Champions League is not the league, it is another competition. You need to fight for the result and it is not easy to play away from home.

"We are in first place and everything is in our hands and I am very happy and confident about that. But we need to continue our job because it will not be easy.

"I don't think we defended so badly. It was not a bad game. It was not our best performance but not a bad game for us."

Schalke coach Mirko Slomka was happy with his team's performance and with better finishing could have earned them a renowned victory.

Slomka said: "We showed a lot of passion and stuck to our tactical instructions.

"We knew how dangerous Chelsea could be but we had lots of chances and were well organised. I have to praise my players.

"We tried to learn from the first game in London where we had problems with their full-backs getting forward.

"But our full-backs were the ones going forward. I think Chelsea didn't defend as well as they should have done because we were so good going forward."