Ricardo Carvalho has handed Chelsea a boost and declared himself fit for the Champions League Final next week.

The Portugal international missed the club's final League game of the season against Bolton after being substituted against Newcaslte because of a back injury.

Carvalho has been undergoing intensive treatment at the club's training ground ever since and it appears to have already paid off.

The 29-year-old trained on his own yesterday while the rest of the squad had a day off and is expected to join in a full session when his team-mates return to action today.

John Terry is hoping to return to the practice pitches at Cobham tomorrow following his elbow injury and it would be a massive lift for manager Avram Grant if he were to have both first-choice centrehalfs available for Moscow next Wednesday.

Terry himself will be delighted with his earlier-than-expected return, as the skipper feels that his side must beat Manchester United to become respected as a club on a global level.

He said: "I certainly want to add to my list of trophies and it's frustrating when you hear people outside saying we're not a great side until we go on and win a trophy like the Champions League.

"We've won the Premier League two years running, we've won other trophies and it takes a great side to do that. But a Champions League trophy would answer a few critics and it's something I'm desperate to win.

"Until recently we weren't a club to challenge for everything. We'd win the occasional trophy like the FA Cup in 1997 and 2000, but we were never a problem for the likes of Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal who have done well over the years. But they've all had to start somewhere and we're at the beginning of that stage."

Winning Europe's top football prize would make Stamford Bridge a more attractive option for the world's best players and Joe Cole today said he would like to see Lionel Messi, a player he says he rates more highly than Cristiano Ronaldo, move to west London.

Cole believes Messi made the United winger look second best in their semifinal against Barcelona and would prefer Chelsea to sign the Argentine - if they had the option.

He said: "I think they are both great players. Ronaldo has been fantastic, but Messi showed in the semi-final that he is the top man.

If we could sign him I'd love to play with him. He is only 20 as well, just imagine how good he will be in the next 10 years."

Looking to the more immediate future, Cole has told Chelsea's players to forget about the mistakes which cost the club the championship and focus on Moscow.

Striker Didier Drogba has complained that the Blues gifted the title to Sir Alex Ferguson's after making too many costly errors - as in the 1-1 draw with Wigan - but Cole has urged his team-mates to look to the future, not the past.

He said: "We can't look back just at the Wigan game, there are too many to go through. The best team wins the Premier League, it's as simple as that. Manchester United would have dropped points they shouldn't have too. We just have to put it to bed and get on with things.

"We have the Champions League to play for. If you worried about every mistake you or the team had made over the course of a season you would never sleep at night.

"Everyone has been patting us on the back for almost winning the

League getting to the Champions League Final, but it's about putting silverware on the table."

Cole has also revealed that the English contingent at both clubs have agreed not to brag should their team win in Moscow when they join the national team for friendlies against USA and Trinidad and Tobago.

He said: "We all have to meet up with England after the final and we have agreed that whoever wins the game won't throw any banter about because there will be a few sore heads."