It’s now or never for Sheva

Time couldn’t be more opportune for Andriy Shevchenko to prove detractors wrong when Chelsea take on Liverpool

LONDON: If ever there was a moment for Andriy Shevchenko to prove he was worth the 30 million pounds Chelsea paid for him, then it comes at Anfield on Saturday.

But sadly for the Ukrainian, there is no guarantee he will get the chance to demonstrate to the London club’s supporters exactly how he came to be regarded as the most lethal striker in European football.

With Chelsea six points adrift of Manchester United at the top of the Premiership and apparently wracked by internecine conflict, manager Jose Mourinho faces one of the most difficult selection decisions of his career.

Does he start the Ukrainian alongside Didier Drogba and risk another ineffectual performance? Or leave him on the bench at the cost of aggravating the simmering row between the manager and Chelsea’s billionaire owner Roman Abramovich?

Either way, everyone at Chelsea knows they can ill afford a defeat that would present Manchester United with the opportunity to pull further ahead at the top when they take on Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday. Which is perhaps why reconciliation has been on the menu in the build-up to Saturday’s match.

While Mourinho has been insisting he would be happy to see out a contract at Chelsea that runs until 2010, Shevchenko has been attempting to prove that he has not demanded special treatment.

“If the manager decides I am not capable, I just have to work harder,” the former AC Milan forward said. “It doesn’t matter what I think. I remain positive. The situation is I came as a new player, the fee was high and the expectation was high and I’ve been attacked from all sides.

I am disappointed in some of my performances so far. It’s a period where I have not been doing very well. I’m working on it and I want to give 100 per cent.

“Anywhere you go you need time to understand things and you need luck and I haven’t had that in recent times. I want to show people the real me — I’m really moved by the support I get from the fans,” he said.

As well as deciding what to do with Shevchenko, Mourinho must also judge whether goalkeeper Petr Cech is ready to play his first match since fracturing his skull in a collision with Reading’s Stephen Hunt in Oct.

Medical experts have issued an all-clear for the Czech international to play with a protective helmet but Mourinho may be reluctant to risk his return in such a high-pressure environment.

Liverpool-Chelsea encounters have been among the most bitterly contested fixtures on the English football calendar in recent years and the home side will be desperate to make a point on Saturday with everyone connected with the club still smarting at the memory of back-to-back home defeats by Arsenal in the FA and League Cups.