Scolari urges patience on Drogba

Luiz Felipe Scolari believes Chelsea striker Didier Drogba will not return to the peak of his powers until mid-November.

Drogba is set to make only his third start of the season in tonight’s Champions League clash with CFR Cluj after suffering a knee injury, and Scolari has called on fans to be patient with him.

He said: “Didier has not played for two months so it is difficult. He is not 100% ready. We need more time for Didier but he will grow with every game he plays and eventually reach the same levels as before.

“Tonight we will see Didier better than in the last game. He is doing his job very well but he needs more games and more time but I think he will need eight or 10 more games.”

Chelsea – described as a “football machine” by Cluj striker Yssouf Kone – are aiming to dish out a stiff Champions League reality check to the Romanian double-winners.

Cluj produced a shock 2-1 victory away at Roma on their Champions League debut a fortnight ago and tomorrow promises to be the biggest night in the club’s 101-year history.

But unbeaten Chelsea are homing in on a ninth straight away victory that would take them a giant step closer to qualifying for the second round of the Champions League.

Scolari said: “We have made a very good start to the season. Cluj are more confident than before because they beat Roma and they have good players – but we know that if we are to reach the second round we need to win.

“When you win games you have more confidence, you are more strong. If we win we have one foot in the second round.

“I think it will need 10 points to qualify and if we win tomorrow we will have six points. We would just need four more from four games.

“We want to reach the final and to win the final so it is a very good situation for us.”

Scolari has been trying to keep Chelsea’s Champions League expectations in check following the disappointment of last season’s final.

Ahead of Chelsea’s opening win over Bordeaux – Scolari’s first ever Champions League match as manager – the Brazilian insisted he would not be judged on Europe.

Last night Scolari was at pains to point out the qualities of a Cluj side packed with South Americans and Portuguese players, many of whom are familiar to him and have a point to prove.

“The attention of the world is not on Cluj, it is on Chelsea, but their players want to change that. They want to show the world they are good players and catch the eye of other clubs,” said Scolari.

“They are in this competition because they have good players, they have something different to other teams in Romania.

“They need respect. We win many games in England now because we respect the opposition team.

“I have shown my players a DVD about Cluj. If they win against Chelsea it is because they are better. It is not a surprise.”

But it would be a major shock to the Transylvanian locals, 25,000 of whom will pack into the stadium tonight and create a bear-pit of an atmosphere for Chelsea.

Cluj, Romania’s oldest club and nicknamed the Railroaders, rocketed through the divisions following some heavy investment and last year became the first side outside of Bucharest to win the league title in 17 years.

Nevertheless, Kone admitted: “I think Chelsea are four times stronger than Roma. When you play against them, you should run like crazy until the last minute. Chelsea are a football machine.

“In the end it’s 11 against 11 and the pressure will be on Chelsea, not on us. If they beat us, it would be normal. If we beat them, it would be something fantastic.”