Guus Hiddink could stay on as Chelsea manager despite claims from the club's hierarchy that he won't be in charge next season.

Standard Sport understands that Dutchman Hiddink has told some of his senior players that he may still have a long-term future at Stamford Bridge if they win a trophy under his caretaker leadership.

The Russia coach, who agreed to take over at Chelsea after the sacking of Luiz Felipe Scolari in February, has continued to insist publicly that he will leave in May and go back to his international job full-time.

Chelsea chairman Bruce Buck also reiterated the club's claim at the weekend that they are looking elsewhere for a permanent manager to be in charge next season.

But Hiddink is believed to be loving life at Stamford Bridge and is waiting to see what the team can achieve under his reign before making a final decision.

Chelsea are still in contention for three major trophies with six weeks of the campaign left to go. They take on Liverpool in the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final tonight, where they already lead 3-1, face Arsenal in the FA Cup semi-final on Saturday and also trail Manchester United by just four points in the Premier League.

Some senior players have been led to believe that victory in any of the competitions could be enough to convince Hiddink to stay.

The Dutchman remains determined to say otherwise in public, but according to one source that is because he doesn't want the issue toovershadow the big games that lie ahead. Owner Roman Abramovich is also keen for him to remain at the club, even if it means he continues to be in charge of Russia at the same time.

Hiddink remains committed to helping Russia qualify and performing well at next year's World Cup so a job-share remains the most likely.

Captain John Terry revealed at the weekend that he expects talks to be “ongoing” between Abramovich and Hiddink and AC Milan also insisted that coach Carlo Ancelotti is not moving to Stamford Bridge.

Hiddink has expressed some concern that defensive mistakes could cost Chelsea against Liverpool tonight but Ashley Cole promised that the tiredness that led to the Blues conceding three goals against Bolton won't be repeated tonight.

Cole said: “We now have a big game against Liverpool and we can't defend how we did against Bolton. I'm sure we won't. We all want to get to the final in Rome.”