Cech desperate to return

Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech is back in training and waiting for surgeons to give him the go-ahead to play following his horrific facial injury.

Cech required 50 stitches to his chin and lip after an accidental training ground collision with team-mate Tal Ben-Haim, and speculation was rife he would miss the rest of the season.

But the Czech Republic international, who still wears a protective helmet after fracturing his skull earlier in his Chelsea career, hopes to return quicker than expected if his wound can be protected.

Cech had only just recovered from an ankle injury before his collision with Ben-Haim and his return to action cannot come quick enough for Chelsea.

The club’s number two goalkeeper, Carlo Cudicini, was forced out of action in the first half of their Champions League quarter-final victory over Fenerbahce on Tuesday night with a hamstring problem.

That left the Blues with only third-choice keeper Hilario but Cech is hopeful his team-mate will not have to carry the burden for much longer.

“I can still train,” Cech announced. “The problem is I cannot afford any contact so I can run, I can do some stuff in the gym and I am waiting for the solution from the surgeon to get me back on the field.

“As soon as we can get the solution, hopefully there will be a chance for me to play. It looks much better, it feels much better and it is not that swollen. The recovery is going well at the moment.

“There are still plenty of games to play and I have been missing games for a long time and I can’t wait to be back.”

Meanwhile, chairman Bruce Buck declined to give fans a direct answer over the future of Avram Grant after appearing as a special guest at one of their ’Star on a Stool’ evenings on Wednesday night.

Buck fielded questions from supporters along with former Chelsea player Roberto Di Matteo, but he refused to give them a straight answer when asked if the Israeli would be manager next season.

Grant has a four-year contract at Stamford Bridge but his future is at the centre of constant speculation even though the club insist there are no plans to remove him.

Grant has guided Chelsea to the semi-finals of the Champions League and to within three points of Manchester United at the top of the Barclays Premier League, but when asked directly if Grant would be Chelsea’s boss next season, Buck replied: “I think it is a yes or no question and I am not going to give you a yes or no answer.

“But let me give a perspective on it. In September, when Jose (Mourinho) left and Avram came on board, I think the board and Roman Abramovich did not expect that we would be sitting here as a semi-finalist in the Champions League and three points off the top of the Premier League.

“We thought that when you change managers, you have to have some rebuilding. So we are unbelievably happy that we are here, where we are now.

“We would have wished that we would have beaten Barnsley and Tottenham and whatever, but I think we are reasonably happy with where we are now.

“Avram has a multi-year contract and he’s our manager. Having said that, and don’t take this the wrong way, every manager, at every club, is judged by results. That’s the name of the game, results, and right now Avram’s results are very, very good, so he’s our manager.

“I was annoyed during the Arsenal match when some people in the North Stand were singing ’You don’t know what you’re doing’ and Jose’s name.

“My perspective is, you’re either a Chelsea fan or you’re not, and in the middle of what was one of the most important games of the season, I don’t think you do something which could theoretically unsettle your team.

“To me, that doesn’t make sense, and to me, that’s not a Chelsea fan. So Avram has also had to deal with that kind of thing, which I personally thought was inappropriate.”