Michael Ballack is confident he and Andriy Shevchenko can cover the absences in Chelsea's first team in the coming weeks.

"We always want to play," Ballack said of himself and Shevchenko. "He couldn't show it every time in the last two seasons. We are self-critical and we can play better but you need a good feeling for the team, not just yourself. It's different football in England. I hope we can show this more. It's not just us, it's the team. We need the other players with us, it's always a relationship with everybody. You come to a new club and you have to adapt."