DIDIER DROGBA reckons Andre Villas-Boas is too tough to crack under mounting Champions League pressure.
The Chelsea chief goes into the Stamford Bridge crunch against Spanish giants Valencia tomorrow knowing his Euro hopes are on a knife edge.
Anything other than a goalless draw or a win will see AVB become the first Blues manager under Roman Abramovich to fail to reach the knockout stages of the Champions League.
The weekend win at Newcastle simply papered over the cracks for a Chelsea side still struggling to adapt to the football vision of 34-year-old Villas-Boas.
Striker Drogba, though, is backing the Portuguese boss to deal with any heat thrown his way.
The Ivory coast ace said: "Everything is now coming together for the manager.
"You have to remember it is his first season in the Premier League, so it's not easy for him — and it isn't easy for the players or the club.
"Yes, we have been in a difficult moment — we have been struggling.
"But you have to stick together and make sure when we are on the pitch, we are all pulling in the same direction. That's what we are doing right now and it's great to see. We will have bad moments but if we stay together, the good things will come along.
"The manager can deal with any pressure. You don't rise to his level in coaching if you are not a strong personality."
At least Chelsea go into tomorrow's big clash on the back of a much-needed win at Newcastle.
Drogba, on target in the 3-0 victory at St James' Park, said: "You could say we looked more like the Chelsea of old.
"It was so important to win and I think that we are getting back to doing the simple things.
"Maybe we didn't play that well but the three points were vital for us.
"We managed to overpower them at the end but that comes with the pressure we were putting them under.
"We have been able to manage our own pressures, though. Even at 1-0, they were pushing on but also we defended well.
"I think we looked really strong defensively — we had some luck too but you need that.
"You create your own luck sometimes and that only comes from the whole team being in a really positive state of mind.
"We go into the Valencia game confident but it's this type of game that you just love as a player.
"When I was a kid, I used to watch huge matches like this on TV dreaming that I would one day play in them. It is going to be very exciting.
"Yes, the pressure is on us, we normally don't have too many problems in the group stages but this is why people love football. Nothing is ever set in stone.
"At the start of the season it was not guaranteed we would get through the groups easily.
"It's going to be tough, certainly a different situation to what we are used to.
"But in a way it will be just like some of the huge Champions League games we have had in recent years.
"Think of the matches we played against Liverpool in the semi-finals — matches with so much tension around when it gets to kick-off time, you concede early and then you don't know what to do.
"This is going to be one of those games.
"I like that type of intensity. Everyone is concentrating 200 per cent and I love it. It's the emotion on the pitch, everything.
"We have had this sort of challenge before — and I am ready to attack it."
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