JT, a certain starter in Slovakia tonight, was handed his first taste of regular Premiership football when Claudio took over. Despite the odd blip, he hasn't looked back since and is now seen as a senior figure in the dressing room.

And he is keen to do well for the gaffer who has made it all possible for him. JT said "The players want to do very well for Claudio. We all respect him as a manager and he's a very good coach as well. He obviously gets the lads buzzing down the training ground. You can see by some of the interviews he does what kind of character he is.

"He is the one who brought me into the Chelsea first team and gave me my first real chance, and he definitely deserves to stay at Chelsea. I know there's been a lot of speculation about Sven Goran Eriksson but the manager here has done superbly over the past three years to get us where we are with no money.

"Now that he's got some money, he's made some great signings and can hopefully take us that extra step further. But it's totally down to us now. I know, and we all know that we owe the manager a lot. He gave me my chance and he's done a lot for the players here.

"If we can reward him now by qualifying, it would be great for him and great for the players.''

And great for the fans, of course...