Roberto Di Matteo declared Chelsea's squad was strong enough to win at Manchester City on Wednesday - even without captain John Terry.
Andre Villas-Boas' final pre-match press conference before being sacked as Blues boss saw the Portuguese brand City's playing pool "a lot better" than his own. But caretaker manager Di Matteo had no doubt Chelsea could go toe-to-toe with Roberto Mancini's men in their Barclays Premier League clash at the Etihad Stadium.
Asked if he believed Chelsea were capable of taking City on, Di Matteo said: "Yes, I do. I think we have a very good team and squad, a very strong one, and we've shown it over the years."
They will have to make do without captain Terry, who Di Matteo revealed would miss the game after over-exerting himself in the two matches he has played since his remarkable recovery from knee surgery.
He added: "The table shows that they (City) have won more games this season than we have. But, I think we are very competitive."
Di Matteo did not shy away from statistics that point to a City win, the first of which shows Chelsea are looking to end a run of four away league games without a win.
"We will try, yes, for sure," he said, before being reminded City had won all 14 of their home league matches. "I know that one as well. I know the facts! They're obviously very strong at home, everybody knows that. But every run comes to an end."
One area where Chelsea do hold the edge is in terms of big-match experience at the tail-end of a season, and Di Matteo said: "We've got a lot of players that have played many, many important games and crucial games and Premier League games, and that is certainly a factor that is within our team."
Meanwhile, Chelsea confirmed goalkeeper Hilario has signed a one-year contract extension. The 36-year-old therefore looks set to escape any summer clearout at Stamford Bridge and remain as back-up to undisputed number one Petr Cech.
Hilario, whose previous contract was set to expire this summer, joined Chelsea in 2006 as understudy to Cech. He has made a total of 39 appearances for the Blues, keeping 18 clean sheets.
Source: PA
