Drogba loss is a blow for Scolari’s forward thinking

Never in their wildest dreams did Chelsea imagine they would find themselves in a similar predicament to Tottenham this week.

But after Didier Drogba sustained suspected ligament damage to his right knee against Cluj last night, which is likely to keep him out for at least six weeks, Luiz Felipe Scolari finds himself just as short of attacking options as his Spurs counterpart Juande Ramos.

Drogba was playing only his fifth game after recovering from an operation on his other knee, but when he hit the turf in obvious pain in the 56th minute after he and Cluj's Brazilian defender Andres De Souza had contested Florent Malouda's left-wing cross, Chelsea's future suddenly became more complicated.

Assuming his players suffer no more bad luck, Scolari will prepare for Sunday's home game against Aston Villa in the Premier League with just two senior forwards, Nicolas Anelka and Salomon Kalou, and an untested youngster, Franco Di Santo, available.

It is a scenario which makes bottom-of-the-table Tottenham, who have only Darren Bent, Roman Pavlyuchenko and Fraizer Campbell in their forward line, appear positively brimming with attacking talent.

Scolari will point to his preference for a lone striker, supported by two attack-minded midfielders and two wide men, as proof he can cope without Drogba.

But as Drogba and Anelka are the only players capable of leading the attack, it means the Frenchman can look forward to an extremely heavy work load over the next three months.

When Scolari compares his striking choices with those of Manchester United and Arsenal, it will make the Brazilian even more concerned.

Sir Alex Ferguson can rotate Wayne Rooney, Carlos Tevez and Dimitar Berbatov, while Arsene Wenger is able to deploy Emmanuel Adebayor, Robin van Persie, Carlos Vela and Nicklas Bendtner.

And this after Scolari had said last week that he expected "five or six" key players to play in every game as part of his desire for glory on four fronts.

Given Chelsea's fitness situation — the Blues could be without as many as eight first-team players for the Villa clash — Scolari is likely to have to do a head count before his side's next few matches.

It may seem harsh to question Scolari's judgement but with only Drogba, Anelka and Kalou on the books, it is surprising that the Brazilian decided not to sign another centre-forward when the transfer window was open in August.

Even without Deco, Ricardo Carvalho, Michael Essien, Joe Cole and Ashley Cole due to injury, Chelsea were expected to beat a Cluj team playing in only their second match in the Champions League.

But the Blues must have feared it wasn't going to be their night when the people in charge of the pre-match play list at the Dr Constantin Radulescu Stadium bizarrely decided to blast out "Glory, Glory Man United", as well as other songs in praise of Sir Alex's 1999 Treble-winning side, over the speakers.

And throughout the first half, World Cup-winning coach Scolari was tactically outwitted by Cluj boss Maurizio Trombetta, a man whose previous experience as a manager was at the sixth level of Italian football.

Trombetta instructed his players to drop deep and deny Chelsea any room for manoeuvre in attack, before allowing Argentinian wide men Juan Culio and Sebastian Dubarbier, as well as the rampaging Uruguayan left-back Alvaro Pereira, to stretch the visitors on the break.

The plan worked perfectly, and if the majority of the chances had not fallen to Cluj's wasteful playmaker Eugen Trica, the Romanian champions would probably have pulled off a surprise victory.

Confronted with Cluj's counter-attacking tactics, Chelsea looked one-paced and bereft of ideas, with only the impressive Frank Lampard, the visitors' best player on the night, prepared to take the initiative by trying to switch the angle of attack and involve full-backs Jose Bosingwa and Wayne Bridge in the play.

Lampard was the sole Chelsea player to seriously test goalkeeper Eduard Stancioiu, his swerving 25-yard effort in the 73rd minute being well read by the Cluj stopper.

Indeed, it was the home side who came far closer to claiming victory in the closing stages, with Trica shooting just wide from the edge of the penalty area and Pereira forcing a fine save from Petr Cech following a smart one-two with Yssouf Kone.

Scolari admitted his team had played poorly, but he and Lampard both believe that a point against a talented, dangerous Cluj side could ultimately prove valuable.

Scolari said: "The result was OK given we didn't play well. The players and I know that a point is OK, because Cluj were confident after winning 2-1 at Roma two weeks ago.

"I didn't see the challenge on Drogba, but injuries like this come both in training and in games. It is normal for players. But we do not say the pitch was bad."

Lampard added: "The group stage of the Champions League normally throws up a game like this, which was tight and lacking in entertainment. It was important not to lose."

Scolari and Lampard, then, both recognised that Chelsea got away with it, but the snapshot of the evening was the sight of a forlorn-looking Drogba on crutches, his right leg strapped, levering himself into a white van before being driven away from the stadium.

Drogba left the ground separately from the rest of the Blues party and his fellow team-mates may need to get used to not having the imposing striker around for the foreseeable future.

Scolari must now ensure that Chelsea's walking wounded can somehow keep their footing.