Blues can match City - Di Matteo

Roberto Di Matteo declared Chelsea's squad was strong enough to win at Manchester City on Wednesday - even without captain John Terry.

Andre Villas-Boas' final pre-match press conference before being sacked as Blues boss saw the Portuguese brand City's playing pool "a lot better" than his own. But caretaker manager Di Matteo had no doubt Chelsea could go toe-to-toe with Roberto Mancini's men in their Barclays Premier League clash at the Etihad Stadium.

Asked if he believed Chelsea were capable of taking City on, Di Matteo said: "Yes, I do. I think we have a very good team and squad, a very strong one, and we've shown it over the years."

Copyright (c) PA Sport 2012, All Rights Reserved.