Colin Hutchinson has reiterated that Chelsea will travel to Israel next week, despite the security fears caused by the situation in Afghanistan.

The Blues are due to play the first leg of their second-round UEFA Cup tie against Hapoel Tel Aviv in Israel on Thursday, October 18 and, although the continued actions of the coalition forces have caused concern, the Chelsea managing director has expressed his confidence that there would be no problems.

"Obviously I understand their concerns, but when I went out there last week to speak with the various authorities, I came back very confident that everything would go ahead without any problems," he said.

"Tel Aviv is a coastal resort, and everyone there is still going about their business in the normal way.

The shopping areas are busy during the day and at night the promenade is full of families taking walks," he added.

He did explain, however, that UEFA and the FA are monitoring the situation almost hourly and that the club has a permanent dialogue going on with both governing bodies.

"I probably speak to some of the top officials at UEFA up to three times a day, so we know exactly what is happening and we can react accordingly," said Hutchinson.

"The options are simple - if the situation becomes doubtful, we will abide by what decision UEFA takes, and that will mean either the game moving to a neutral venue or the match becoming a one-legged affair."

"But I can assure all that are involved with the match that we are operating in the best interest of everyone.

"I have plans to take my wife out for the game, that's how confident I am about the situation there, but we will take everything into consideration, the players feelings, and the safety of everyone who wants to travel."