INTERVIEW

Tuesday, January 4, 9:24am London Time
Wise back as father figure
By Adrian Curtis

Gianluca Vialli will be hoping the millennium celebrations didn't leave skipper Dennis Wise with too much of a sleepless night as Chelsea prepare to face Coventry tonight.

Wise, who came off the bench to inspire the Blues to their victory over Sheffield Wednesday last week, was presented with a son by partner Claire just 80 minutes into the new millennium.

The Chelsea manager is almost certain to reinstate Wise as skipper from the start of tonight's crucial Premier-ship clash at Highfield Road.

Vialli has fielded all-foreign sides from the start in both their festive victories over Southampton and Wednesday.

But three more points are vital for Vialli tonight if Chelsea are to continue their rise up the table towards the leading pack and Wise's influence will be a vital factor.

However, Vialli will have to cope without French defender Frank Leboeuf. He begins a two-match suspension that could ultimately turn out to be much more damaging if the Football Association decide he was guilty of stamping on Leeds striker Harry Kewell during their recent home defeat against David O'Leary's side.

Leboeuf was charged with misconduct last week and now faces an anxious wait to learn if he will be hit with a further ban.

With one French centre-half out, Vialli will be hoping Leboeuf's compatriot Marcel Desailly will have recovered from the shoulder injury which has plagued him in recent weeks.

Bernard Lambourde or Chris Sutton will find themselves among the candidates to partner Emerson Thome if Desailly fails a fitness test.

Meanwhile, Vialli has singled out the one man who could have a decisive role to play in the latter half of Chelsea's season - Uruguayan midfielder Gustavo Poyet.

Poyet has missed the last two seasons after Christmas due to injury and his absence until April last year is widely regarded to have cost Chelsea the Premiership title.

Vialli knows all too well that Poyet's inclusion for the most important period of the season could make all the difference to their push for a European place next season and to their hopes of success in the FA Cup and the Champions League.

Poyet's influence is never more keenly felt by the opposition than when he is allowed to play in his preferred position behind the front two strikers and Vialli is well aware of that fact.

However, he cannot guarantee the midfielder will not be asked to play on the left side once more.

Vialli said: 'Gus is a very clever player. Obviously he has been sacrificed some of the time to play on the left. We have so many good players and I would like to play all of them in the positions they want to play in.

'He is doing his job very well either on the left or behind the two strikers, or just one striker as in the past two games.

'He's very good at taking up the right position when the opposition has the ball and when he gets in the box he's very good in the air. He's a very offensive-thinking player and very important for the club.'

Chelsea's wing-back Dan Petrescu has also been voted the Romanian 'Player of the Year'.

The Romanian international took the award ahead of fierce competition after a year in which he helped his country qualify for this summer's Euro 2000 finals in Belgium and Holland.