Chelsea consider bid for Uruguayan defender Caceres

The 20-year-old has had an outstanding season on loan to Spanish side Recreativo Huelva, but parent club Villarreal rate him at £14m.

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Meanwhile Avram Grant has been buoyed by the reaction from his players following their shock FA Cup exit at the hands of Coca-Cola Championship side Barnsley.

Grant held an inquest into the 1-0 defeat that put them out of the competition they won last season and was uplifted by the way they responded.

Chelsea can close the gap at the top of the Barclays Premier League with victory over Derby at Stamford Bridge tonight and Grant wants his players to bounce back in style from the disappointment of missing out on a place in the last four of the FA Cup.

"You could see the reaction from training," said Grant. "When they spoke, they spoke very well. I told them they had to come out fighting and they agreed with this. We can learn from what we did ourselves after the Carling Cup.

"Everybody fought and showed a good spirit, like I wanted, in training. I said to the players: 'We need to know how to behave in the good times and the bad times.'

"They reacted well. The players are very honest at Chelsea. They're very determined. They want to prove themselves again. We are, as a team, together. We want to do what we did after the Carling Cup.

"All the players are very disappointed. We are a proud team, we want to win all the time. We know it's not possible - all the big teams lost in the cup, and you know how they lost."

Grant revealed that his friendship with the club's billionaire owner Roman Abramovich has been put aside while he is manager and he is not thinking about whether his own future is in doubt.

Abramovich was said to have been 'incensed' by their FA Cup exit but Grant said: "He's still my friend, but now he's also my boss. We know not to put friendship in that relationship. I didn't come here for friendship. Our relationship as friends has stayed the same, but when it comes to the team he's the boss of this club. We share a vision for this club.

"I expect to get results. Inside the club, we are disappointed when we lose, but we don't check ourselves after every loss. We assess things after a period of time, seeing what we've done wrong.

"When we were winning nine games in a row, we were also checking ourselves. We want to win a trophy. We are now in the two major trophies but I'm sure we're moving in the right direction. If I didn't think that I wouldn't be here. We want it. I'm very disappointed that we lost. Over the last six months we've been improving.

"I'm very happy to be the manager of Chelsea. I'm very pleased to be here. Since I've been here, I've heard so many questions about 'what if'? But what if it works out? I'm positive, I'm an optimist. Most of the time, not all the time, we've done a good job.

"I'm not thinking about what might happen. I'm thinking about what happens if we continue doing a good job and learn from our mistakes because, if we do, this club will be a lot bigger than it is now."