Banned Blues must be forgotten - Carvalho

Chelsea's squad has been ravaged by suspensions and injuries as they prepare to begin their Champions League campaign against Porto at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday night.

"It is important for us to have all the players available for games but we cannot use this as an excuse if we don't do well," said Carvalho.

Midfielders Deco, Joe Cole and Yuri Zhirkov are all missing through injury as are defenders Paulo Ferreira and Alex.

But Carvalho, who will partner John Terry at the heart of the defence once again, insists they must forget about the bans handed out to Drogba and Bosingwa by UEFA.

They were both suspended for their parts in the unsavoury scenes that followed the semi-final exit last season when Barcelona scored a last-minute away goal at Stamford Bridge.

Drogba, who screamed foul-mouthed abuse straight down the cameras after Norwegian referee Tom Henning Ovrebo rejected four penalty appeals, was banned for four games while Bosingwa received a two-match suspension.

He added: "It is our responsibility to win this game. Someone like Didier Drogba is an important player for us, he is doing very well and it is good for the other side that these players are going to miss this game.

"But it is better for us to miss them now than later in the competition."