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Drogba: Mourinho's exit has hit our Euro hopes
28.09.07
Didier Drogba has warned Chelsea that sacking Jose Mourinho has put their Champions League qualification from Group B in jeopardy.
Chelsea drew their first match in the competition - a game they were expected to win - 1-1 with Norwegians Rosenborg and Mourinho left the club the following day.
Drogba claimed to be giving "200 per cent" in training in order to overcome the knee injury that has restricted him to only five games this season and be ready to face Valencia on Wednesday.
But he fears that the clinical manner in which Mourinho was shown the door may rip to shreds the motivation he and his team-mates used in reaching two Champions League semi-finals under the 'Special One'.
Speaking for the first time since Mourinho left Stamford Bridge, Drogba said: "Our 1-1 home draw with Rosenborg has really put us under the cosh and the way to redress that is to go to Spain and impose ourselves on Valencia. A performance and a result like that demands a certain kind of spirit, a particular mentality and total unity within the group.
"The majority of us within the squad used to dig deep and do it for the coach [Mourinho] in situations like this."
"It's this, specifically, that we have to forget and strive to now find another kind of motivation."
"That's something we need to discover in order to, just for example, make it as far as the last 16 of this competition which, at the start of the season I made my No1 target to win."
Mourinho's exit stunned fans and a report today claimed his sudden departure-was sparked by a chance meeting with Roman Abramovich in a corridor at Stamford Bridge following Chelsea's draw with Rosenborg.
The club's owner is said to have told Mourinho he was unhappy with the performance, to which the manager is said to have replied: "If you are not happy with me, then just sack me."
Drogba pointedly made no mention of Avram Grant and his belief that removing Mourinho strips many Chelsea players of their main motivation will worry Blues supporters.
Whether new boss Grant will be able to count on Drogba physically, never mind mentally, remains to be seen.
The free-scoring African is still a doubt for tomorrow's west London derby at home to Fulham and is unsure whether he'll be ready for the trip to Spain.
He added: "Will I be fit for the Valencia match? That's a question I just can't answer. I don't know."
"I'm in the process of putting my knee back under pressure and I actually started full training on Monday."
"But I'm still feeling pain from it and I'm in an anxious, irritable frame of mind over the whole thing."
"I genuinely pray that I'm back and fit to play at the Mestalla because this is going to be a vital match for Chelsea's ambitions and our road ahead."
If Drogba fails to recover in time, more will be expected from Andriy Shevchenko. The out-of-form Ukrainian is 31 tomorrow but denied he will now get preferential treatment because Mourinho has gone. He was at pains to deny he will be treated any differently to anyone else at the club.
The Ukraine striker said: "I know him [Grant] as director of football with the team, like every player. He is now manager and every player has the same relationship.
"It's a difficult moment for the club, the players, the team, because of big changes in the house, so it's a time for the players to stick together and do our best for the club."
A decision on Drogba will be made today and Ricardo Carvalho, who has also been out for most of the season with a thigh injury, is also in contention but the game looks to have come too early for Frank Lampard. John Obi Mikel is suspended but Wayne Bridge could be on the bench.
