Feeling the blues before derby clash

THAT defensive midfield position must really be cursed.

Michael Essien tried his luck there but tweaked his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in 2008, missed an entire season and was never really the same.

Oriol Romeu had a go too but suffered a string of injuries and never really regained his place in the squad ... and was shipped back to Spain before the start of this season.

Now I’m quite gutted that Marco van Ginkel has also suffered that dreaded ACL injury against Swindon.

Initial reports say that he will be out for the season but it’s fortunate that the 20-year-old will only miss six months after a successful surgery.

While Van Ginkel’s injury will not affect Chelsea immediately, given that he’s not a regular, it’s still a massive blow to the club.

The Dutch player is one of the brighter youngsters and an injury like this will definitely affect his progress.

To make matters worse, Ramires also took a hit against Swindon and is still uncertain for the massive clash against Tottenham today.

That leaves us with only Essien, Frank Lampard, and John Obi Mikel as experienced cover in the middle for Jose Mourinho.

Surely that’s not good news against Spurs who have a young and energetic side and will certainly look to spread our midfield thin.

Fortunately, Chelsea are regaining their confidence on the pitch after a couple of poor results earlier this month.

Although 2-0 wins over Fulham and Swindon (League Cup) are not spectacular results but they are solid and I’ll take that any time.

We still have an abundance of talent in the squad – Eden Hazard, Oscar, Juan Mata, Andre Schurrle and Willian – and as long as Mourinho gets the game plan spot on, we’ll be unbeatable.

That’s a big “if” though because our strikers still aren’t scoring enough.

Spurs, on the other hand, have been going great guns.

The money from Gareth Bale’s sale is certainly well spent and the club looked a lot better without the Welsh winger anyway.

Erik Lamela and Roberto Soldaldo have fitted in perfectly and they will certainly be the danger men.

But I’ll take heart from the fact that Spurs have not really strengthened their defence ... with only Jan Vertonghen as the real quality defender.

Plus, Spurs have only won three of their 42 EPL matches against Chelsea, and I just don’t see why this will be any different.

So Keep The Blue Flag Flying High. Kng Zheng Guan is rather bothered by the fact that Fernando Torres is the club’s top-scoring striker this season ... with only two goals. Something is definitely wrong with that script!