Ballack bolsters case for Chelsea extension

Michael Ballack has been given a clear hint he will be offered a new deal to stay at Chelsea next season.

The German midfielder is out of contract at the end of this campaign but his two-goal display in the FA Cup fourth round victory over Ipswich Town was a timely reminder of his value to the Stamford Bridge club.

Ballack has struggled to make an impact this year and his strikes were only his second and third goals of the campaign – and he is still to get off the mark in the Premier League.

But Chelsea number two Ray Wilkins insisted manager Luiz Felipe Scolari is happy with the former Bayern Munich man’s contribution and expects Ballack to stay put.

“I would have thought he will be in the manager’s plans for next year,” Wilkins said. “He’s a top quality player and that is what the club has been bringing in, top quality.

“His contribution has been excellent. He probably covers more acreage than anybody else in our side. With the work he puts in for the team, he’s untouchable, he’s extremely good.

“It surprises me he hasn’t scored more this season when you see the quality he has in front of goal. He scored a fantastic goal at Southend but it surprises me he hasn’t scored more.

“He was very doubtful today, he took a nasty kick in midweek, and he was scanned yesterday. But the professional in him pulled him through today. He turned up this morning still feeling sore but really wanting to play today.”

A 3-1 victory was sealed by Frank Lampard’s late free-kick and the only downside to the win was Ricardo Carvalho’s second half withdrawal with a hamstring problem.

“As soon as he felt his hamstring we took him off straight away,” Wilkins added.

“He’s had a problem with his hamstring over the last couple of months so we are just going to wait and test him in the morning but I don’t think it is as serious as it has been. We’ll test him in the morning.”

Didier Drogba was restored to the substitutes bench and the assistant manager insisted it was unlikely the forward – or anybody else – would be leaving the club.

And Wilkins repeated Scolari’s claim that the club will not be making any moves to strengthen the squad this month and distanced himself from reports that a swap deal between Manchester City’s Robinho and Drogba was imminent.

“I wouldn’t have thought anybody would be leaving,” he said. “We have a very strong squad and we will need that squad with all the competitions we are in.

“And I don’t think you’ll see anybody coming in this week. I don’t think that will happen.

“We haven’t had any dealings whatsoever with Manchester City regarding one of our players or Robinho so I would have said that’s not on our agenda.”

A third successive victory has undoubtedly eased the tension at the London club after a difficult period when the position of Scolari has been placed under intense scrutiny.

The fact that two of those wins have come against side in lower divisions suggests a Chelsea revival remains a work in progress but Wilkins insisted the Brazilian manager remained unaffected by the speculation surrounding his position.

“He has come in for a lot of stick, and unnecessarily so as well,” Wilkins said. “But he thoroughly enjoying working with the players and he doesn’t feel under pressure. He doesn’t have a problem at all.”

Alex Bruce, the son of Wigan boss Steve, had given Ipswich hope when he equalised’s Ballack’s 16th minute opening goal before half-time but Town manager Jim Magilton had no complaints about the final outcome.

He said: “We competed well but Chelsea deserved to win. But this is the type of place we want to be playing our football every week, not just in cup games.”