Lampard: Chelsea must keep Drogba

He insists the striker is peerless in the world game and remains one of the key figures in the Stamford Bridge dressing room.

Drogba's future at the club is in doubt after he revealed his intention to leave next summer because of his disappointment at the departure of Jose Mourinho.

But a goal at Middlesbrough last Saturday and the second in last night's 2-0 win against Schalke in the Champions League showed his game has been unaffected.

Lampard said: "It is important for Chelsea that he stays. Players like Didier you want alongside you.

"He makes his own decisions but when he is here and playing for us, even with all the controversy of the last week or two, he has put in two performances which show what he is all about.

"Didier is the best, it is as simple as that. There are different types of players, like Wayne Rooney, an absolutely fantastic, world-class player who comes off defenders and creates and scores.

"But as an out and out striker there is no one better than Didier. He has an all-round game with pace, power, is a team player, scores goals with his head and feet and holds the line.

"He is a great lad to have in the dressing room, will always fight to the end and the way he has played in the last 18 months there is no one better in world football."

Florent Malouda put Chelsea ahead at Stamford Bridge when Schalke goalkeeper Manuel Neuer let the Frenchman's fourth-minute shot through his legs.

Drogba, who looked dangerous throughout, then flicked in Paulo Ferreira's low 48th-minute cross to send Chelsea three points clear at the top of Group B.

Petr Cech said: "I think Didier has answered all the questions.

"He has nothing to prove. He is a fighter. You can criticise him but he will work hard and try to bounce back. He is the best of his type and it is always difficult to replace someone with such quality. He has a winning mentality and we need those sort of players in the team."

Chelsea should expect to qualify for the knockout stage of the Champions League after last night's win and the previous victory in Valencia, but the outlook was much bleaker five weeks ago.

A 1-1 draw at home to Rosenborg then contributed to Jose Mourinho's departure and Lampard admitted things have changed since Avram Grant took over.

The midfielder said: "At the end of that week you probably wouldn't have thought we would be in the position we are in now in Europe.

"It was a difficult time for many reasons. We had injuries and when you have quality of the players we have it was only a matter of time before we started getting results again.

"Things are easier now because time moves things on."