"I wanted to give Sparta very little space and try to play them on the counter-attack. But they closed us down better than I expected and at half-time I had to make changes.

"In the second half I changed the system of my team and we played with two wingers, Duff and Geremi. When they were playing, they created two good chances for Crespo, so I think we deserved to win.

"Crespo is in a difficult position because he had a different pre-season to the rest of the squad and is not in a condition to score goals yet. But he's a clever player and he will get better. He had a couple of great chances but I'm not disappointed he didn't score.

"That can happen to any striker. He will always create chances and soon enough he will get goals for Chelsea."

Let's hope so Claudio- for your sake as well as our's!