Chelsea coach Avram Grant faces a Christmas injury crisis he hopes will not wreck his team's bid for the Premier League title.
Goalkeeper Petr Cech limped out of the Blues' 1-0 win at Blackburn - courtesy of a 22nd-minute strike from Joe Cole - with a side strain, joining captain John Terry and striker Didier Drogba on the sidelines. "We will know the situation with Petr tomorrow when he goes for scans," confirmed Grant, who also has reserve Carlo Cudicini out for a few days with a rib injury sustained in training.
"We need to wait and see (on Cudicini) because with this type of injury it is a matter of time sometimes."
Referring to Cech, Grant added: "I wanted to take him off, but he told me he wanted five minutes more to see if the injury would improve."
"I cannot say it will be easy if we lose Cech. To play for so long with so many injured for a long time, I don't like it."
"But I cannot do anything about it. It's fact, and we need to get through it as soon as possible like we have done in the last three months."
If Cech and Cudicini are sidelined for the Boxing Day clash with Aston Villa at Stamford Bridge, Hilario will take over in goal as he did for the closing 30 minutes at Ewood Park.
"It was difficult for Hilario to come into a game like this, but he did very well, and in the end he made a very good save," added Grant.
"Overall, I'm very happy. I cannot say we played one of our better games, but I was happy with the fighting spirit. It was important to take the three points, especially after all our rivals won this weekend."
Chelsea are in decent form at home, having won four and drawn two of their last six games, A total of 10 goals have been scored by the Blues in those games, with 4 conceded.
Aston Villa's away form is equally impressive , unbeaten in their last six, consisting of three wins and three draws. Those games have seen the Villans pummel 15 goals, and let in 7.
Chelsea sit in a healthy 3rd in the league, and have picked up 37 points from their 18 games. Aston Villa's 29 points from 18 games sees them lie inside the top half of the table, in 8th position.
GRANT FULL OF CHRISTMAS CHEER
Posted 24/12/07 13:18EmailPrintSave
Chelsea v Aston Villa: Chelsea Evens
Chelsea coach Avram Grant has hailed England's chaotic Christmas fixture congestion as "exciting," despite an injury crisis that threatens to sour his team's festivities.
The vast majority of this country's managers and players would almost certainly prefer to follow the lead of their continental neighbours and put their feet up over the forthcoming period.
But despite his injury-hit side facing three games in a week, starting with the Boxing Day visit to Stamford Bridge of Aston Villa, Grant enjoys one of English football's more quirky traditions.
"This is the only country in the world that plays over Christmas," remarked Grant.
"All the other countries, including my own of Israel, have a break at this time of the season.
"But for me it has been interesting to look on from the side.
"I don't think I've missed a game in England for more than 30 years, since I was 22.
"It has been very exciting watching from the side, but it's more exciting from the inside.
"I was in England last year with another club (Portsmouth), so for me it's exciting. This tradition is nice."
It was at Christmas last year that Chelsea effectively blew their bid for a third successive title, drawing three successive games and dropping six crucial points.
Then boss Jose Mourinho was without the spine of his team in Petr Cech, John Terry and Ashley Cole, and it ultimately proved costly as the Blues were unable to cope with the demands on the squad.
Remarkably, the same situation threatens Chelsea again as Grant is without Terry and striker Didier Drogba, while Cech is a concern with a side strain sustained in Sunday's 1-0 win at Blackburn.
With Chelsea six points adrift of leaders Arsenal and five points behind second-placed Manchester United, a repeat of last season's loss of form would kill off Chelsea's championship dreams.
For now, Grant is comfortable with Chelsea's third position in the league, and is refusing to discount Liverpool from the title race even though they are another four points off the pace.
"I think it's unusual to have four teams fighting for the title in December," assessed Grant.
"All four teams won their first game of the Christmas programme, so for you and us it will be an exciting title race this season.
"For us, six points is a gap we can make up.
"We just need to concentrate on winning our games because at this stage of the season there is not one team who will win every game from now until the end."
Grant, though, is also acutely aware of the injury situation as he could be forced to turn to third-choice goalkeeper Hilario due to Carlo Cudicini being sidelined with a training-ground rib injury.
"We are having to use the squad because of all the injuries," said Grant.
"The contribution of those players coming in for the injured ones has been very good because we are still winning."
(reopens) Scans completed on Cech today confirmed painful bruising but the club were not willing to rule him out.
A brief statement on the club's official website said: "Scans have shown bruising around Petr's hip and side.
"We will continue to monitor the situation over the coming days and hope to have him back playing as soon as possible."
As for Cudicini, the club added: "Carlo also continues to make good progress from his rib injury and, again, we hope to have him available again as soon as possible."
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