Mata wants Drogba to stay at Chelsea

Chelsea playmaker Juan Mata has stated that he is eager for team-mate Didier Drogba to extend his current deal at the club, and is not giving up the hope of winning the title.

The Blues seem to have eradicated the dip in form that saw mounting pressure on coach Andre Villas Boas, with consecutive 3-0 wins over Newcastle and Valencia instilling confidence in the players and fans once-more.

The Ivory Coast international has scored three goals in the last two games after winning his place back in the Stamford Bridge starting XI, and Mata feels Drogba still has a lot to offer the club, regardless of the fact that he is in the last year of his contract.

“Didier is a super striker,” the diminutive attacker told The Evening Standard.

“He is strong and fast, scores goals and makes assists. He is very important for us and against Valencia he showed it.

“I don’t know what is happening. It is an individual decision between the club and Didier but for us it is important to have strikers like Didier, Fernando Torres and Salomon Kalou,” Mata stated.

Chelsea‘s next fixture is against current Premier League leaders Manchester City, and Mata has not given up hope of making up the ten-point gap between the sides and challenging for the top prize.

“It’s not impossible for us to still win the title,” he continued.

“There are so many weeks until the Premier League finishes and we will keep going every week to win and to be closer to first place.

“Have we answered the critics? Yes, with the win against Valencia and the last game at Newcastle. These two games have given us more confidence and we have to train this week very well to play against City. That is a very important game for us as well.

“City are having a great Premier League. They are the leaders, they win every game, but we hope here at Stamford Bridge they will have a difficult game.

“Is it a game we can’t afford to lose? I don’t know. We hope to win, that is all we are thinking about. We never think about losing,” he concluded.

By Gareth McKnight