Michael Essien today warned Manchester United that Chelsea will not wilt under the pressure in the Champions League Final.

Wednesday's showdown in Moscow marks the Blues' first ever final in Europe's premier competition but Essien is convinced his team-mates have the big-game mentality to cope.

United have three survivors in the squad from their 1999 triumph over Bayern Munich, but the Ghana midfielder insists the Premier League champions have no edge.

"I think we are used to the expectation and the big occasions so it will not be a problem," said Essien, who represented Ghana in January's African Nations Cup, a tournament that Didier Drogba, Salomon Kalou and John Obi Mikel also took part in.

"Several of our players have played in the African Nations Cup, for example, which is huge, as is the Champions League Final.

"We are expecting a tough match but we are there to do a job and we will see what happens. I am looking forward to it and very confident we can win.

"I watched United win it in 1999. They did very well to come back from a goal down. We know they will fight on Wednesday like they did then, but so will we."

Chelsea won the only final so far between the two sides in the Roman Abramovich era - last season's FA Cup Final - and won their most recent League meeting in April.

Although that victory was not enough to land the League title, Essien believes manager Avram Grant deserves credit for keeping the club together after the departure of Jose Mourinho last September.

He said: "Avram has done a great job since taking over from Jose because it was not easy. He has showed what he is capable of.

"He has his own style of managing the team which is good. We are working really hard in training and must go out there and do our job because that should be enough to win."