Chelsea look for Dutch courage

A Flo double gave Chelsea victory in November

Feyenoord v Chelsea - Tuesday March 14, 19:45 GMT

Chelsea are building up for their Netherlands showdown knowing that a repeat of their November Champions League victory over Feyenoord will bring them a place in the quarter-finals.

The Blues need just one win from their remaining two Group D games to advance to the last eight.

But one of those games is against Italian giants Lazio and coach Gianluca Vialli knows Tuesday's Dutch trip could be his best chance of securing qualification.

Vialli is unlikely to make a return to the pitch

Vialli has no major injury worries for the game, although full-back Albert Ferrer did leave training early on Monday night with what appeared to be a lower back problem, while George Weah is ineligible.

Dan Petrescu looks to have recovered from a foot problem which means Vialli has two major decisions - whether to play a three-man central midfield with Gus Poyet in a free role or a normal 4-4-2 formation and also whether to field Jon Harley or Celestine Babayaro at left-back.

Chelsea easily defeated Feyenoord in the home clash in November, running out 3-1 winners at Stamford Bridge, with 37 attempts on goal compared to the visitors' four.

However, Feyenoord were at that time in disarray, with three leading players declaring their intention to leave.

Much has changed in the meantime and the Dutch side now share the lead of Group D with Chelsea.

Ex-Newcastle striker Jon Dahl Tomasson has been in great form and Chelsea goalkeeper Ed De Goey's former understudy, Jerzy Dudek has been named as the most in-form keeper in the world on a Fifa list.

Indeed in the intervening months Feyenoord have beaten Marseille and Lazio away and drawn 0-0 at home to the Italian side.

Turning point

The match is of utmost importance to Chelsea's season and Vialli rested key men Marcel Desailly and Didier Deschamps from Premiership duty last weekend to ensure that they would be ready for Tuesday's game.

"We need two complete teams, it's sometimes difficult to recuperate," said Vialli.

About 1,500 Chelsea fans are expected in Rotterdam for the clash with Feyenoord.

Dutch police are viewing the match as a test for their preparations for this summer's European Championships, with the final at Feyenoord's De Kuip Stadium.

Chelsea fans are hoping there will not be an over-reaction from local police as there was in Marseille in their last Champions League match, which was disrupted by tear-gas.

Chelsea managing director Colin Hutchinson said: "The police in Holland are very aware of crowd security and they have assured us they are very relaxed about the situation.

"There is a segregated set-up and they are certainly used to hosting big matches."