Blues receive Robben boost
Chelsea are hopeful that a foot injury to Arjen Robben will not prove to be as bad as was first feared after the Dutch winger left Ewood Park on crutches.
Robben limped off with a badly-bruised foot minutes after striking what proved to be the only goal of a hard-fought match at Blackburn.
Afterwards, Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho said that Robben could be out “for weeks or for months, I don’t know” but a club spokesman confirmed later that medical staff were hopeful the injury would keep Robben out for a much-shorter period.
The spokesman said: “Arjen will have a scan after the swelling has gone down, probably in the next two days. It was not thought necessary for him to go to hospital straight after the match.”
Robben’s injury took the shine off Chelsea’s eighth consecutive league victory - all achieved without conceding a goal – and his exit formed part of some bitter exchanges between Mourinho and his Blackburn counterpart Mark Hughes.
Mourinho alleged dirty tricks by Blackburn before and during the game while Hughes accused the Chelsea boss of snubbing the traditional post-match handshake.
Hughes said: “I was upset that the opposing manager was not gracious enough to shake my hand. Sometimes you have to be gracious in defeat but you also have to be gracious in victory.
“I have no idea why [he didn’t]. Perhaps he was too busy on the field with his players. Whether or not he was upset because they were not allowed to play the kind of football they wanted to play I don’t know, but we did not overstep the mark, absolutely not.”
Mourinho retorted: “They felt they couldn’t beat us playing football so they tried to beat us in a different way – direct football, first ball, second ball, being nasty and hard and trying to intimidate players.
“During the afternoon it rained only in this stadium – our kitman saw it - they tried everything. There must be a microclimate here.
“We came here to play football and it was not a football game, it was a fight and we fought and I think we fought fantastically, with a lot of spirit, with a solid defence, with everyone fighting for the same cause.
“This has put us in the best position since the start of the season because for the first time we have 11 points between us and second place.”
In reply to Hughes’ criticism about the handshake, Mourinho said: “I shook hands with him before the game two or three times. When the game finished I went onto the pitch with my players.
“I think this is ridiculous, the game has finished, I’m happy, I want to be with my players, I don’t want to be with other people. If I see him when I leave the building, of course I would shake his hand.”
Mourinho bemoaned Robben’s injury – Chelsea were also without Didier Drogba due to a groin injury.
He said: “It’s a big injury but we have other players. He is so special that maybe he was the first target for them. It was difficult for us against a team who had a special attitude. If I was polite I would call it a special attitude.
“The blond boy in the middle (Robbie Savage) made 20 faults and no yellow card. It’s difficult to control emotions.”
Blackburn came close to ending Chelsea’s run but Petr Cech saved Paul Dickov’s penalty.
He has now gone 781 minutes without conceding a goal, surpassing Peter Schmeichel’s 1997 mark of 694 minutes.
