Blackburn to face full force

Blackburn v Chelsea Ewood Park, 8.00: Chelsea continue their quest for title glory tonight with a tricky visit to Blackburn. Manager Jose Mourinho will revert to his normal first 11 after resting most of his influential players in the 2-0 FA Cup fourth-round victory over Birmingham on Sunday.

Chelsea - currently embroiled in a row over their alleged "tapping up" of Arsenal left back Ashley Cole at a secret meeting in a London hotel last week - are 10 points clear of the Gunners at the top of the Premiership.

But the most important week so far in the club's season will come at the end of this month when they play Newcastle in the fifth round of the FA Cup, travel to Barcelona in the last 16 of the Champions League and face Liverpool in the final of the League Cup at Cardiff's Millennium stadium.

Those seven days will be crucial for the club if they are to continue their amazing quest for an unprecedented quadruple.

The significance of the week is not lost on Czech goalkeeper Petr Cech, who will return to the starting team at Ewood Park.

"We have to fly again to Newcastle, but we have beaten them already in the Carling Cup quarter-finals," Cech said. "If we want to win the FA Cup, we have to beat everyone."

Mourinho will this evening recall Didier Drogba to the attack in place of Eidur Gudjohnsen, along with Arjen Robben. The Chelsea manager was dissatisfied with Robben's second-half performance against Birmingham but will not risk starting the game at Ewood Park without him.

Defenders Paulo Ferreira and William Gallas will also return as well as midfielders Tiago and Claude Makelele.

Blackburn manager Mark Hughes says they will not be weakened by Barry Ferguson's return to Rangers. Hughes expressed disappointment over his former captain's desire to return north of the border, but said Ferguson's attitude had left him with little choice but to recommend the £5 million deal.

"I spoke to Barry before the weekend and I was a little disappointed with what I got back, so, on reflection, I thought it was best for Barry and ourselves if we all moved on.

"Once Rangers got to a proper and right level in regards to the transfer fee I recommended to the board that they should let him go. Barry is a good player, but I have got other very, very good midfield players. We have just been able to bring in Robbie Savage so that more than compensates for Barry's loss."

Former Chelsea player Hughes is relishing the prospect of measuring his own side's improvement against Jose Mourinho's men, who thumped Rovers 4-0 in the Welshman's first month in charge back in October.

"You want to match yourselves against the best and this will be a great test of how far we have come," said Hughes. "We think we have improved, but they have probably moved on as well from that point which is a worry.

"Our trip down there was the first introduction of Robben to the Premiership. He only played for 20 minutes but he made such a big impression in that short space of time."

Hughes has a fitness doubt over striker Paul Dickov who missed Saturday's FA Cup win over Colchester with a groin problem. Dickov will undergo a late fitness test before Hughes finalises his line-up for a game which he hopes will put more space between Rovers and the drop zone.

"This is what the Premiership is all about when you play teams who are as good as Chelsea. They are a really exciting side to watch and it will be a big test, but I think there will come a time where Chelsea are not quite at the level they have been at all season."

Meanwhile, Southampton boss Harry Redknapp will send new signings Henri Camara and Olivier Bernard straight into battle at Birmingham tonight, while Graham Stuart is out to get his Norwich career off to the perfect start at Everton this evening.

Fulham aim to extend their unbeaten 2005 league and cup run to eight games when they meet Aston Villa at Craven Cottage and new arrival Kiki Musampa will go straight into the Manchester City side for their home tie with Newcastle.

TONIGHT'S SOCCER FIXTURES

(7.45 p.m. unless stated)

Internationals - Saudi Arabia v Hungary, at Ataturk Olympic Stadium (5.00); Iran v Bosnia-Herzegovina (12.30).

English Premiership - Birmingham v Southampton; Blackburn v Chelsea (8.00); Everton v Norwich (8.00); Fulham v Aston Villa; Man City v Newcastle.

Scottish League Cup - Semi-final: Rangers v Dundee Utd.

Italian Serie A - (all 7.30) Fiorentina v Palermo; Inter Milan v Atalanta; Juventus v Sampdoria; Lazio v Brescia; Lecce v Roma, Livorno v Reggina; Messina v AC Milan; Siena v Cagliari; Udinese v Chievo.

On TV: Prem Plus